Children of Ice
by JadeTheNerdyGirl
Summary: The story of Gray Fullbuster and his childhood friend, the Ice Dragon Slayer Kayla Ravenfrost. But he doesn't know it at first. He just knew her as the girl who lived outside of his hometown. Their destinies are entwined forever. What will happen when her secret is revealed? And is there something more than just friendship between these two? Rated T - Future Violence/Swearing
1. And So Their Destines Entwined

**Quick Note: The first 7 Chapters is Gray and Kayla becoming friends/learning magic/getting to Fairy Tail, all the stuff when they're younger kids to act as a sort of backstory for them. If you don't find it as interesting, you can skip to Chapter 8 where they and Cana are 14/15 and there's more action and a plot line that's the main part of the story. :) So ya, just thought I'd let you know. Thanks for reading!**

"But Crysteel!" a young girl complains, "You've never left me alone before, what am I supposed to do all alone?!" This young girl was pouting and sitting on the ground in an icy cave. She was a small yet strong-willed six year old. The girl's chocolate brown hair currently in two short braids whipped around as a snowy flurry of wind came from the entrance. Her deep green eyes had a spark of defiance, but the mother could tell that there was a little fear in there as well. She had never been left alone before.

"I'll only be gone for a day, young one. I think you can handle that," Crysteel's low voice rumbles around the cave, and she rests the tip of her snout on Kayla's head, "There is some business that I have to attend to. I can smell that tomorrow will be my only day for a while to fly away without any of the villagers down the mountains seeing me. There will be a small snow storm before summer hits."

Kayla Ravenfrost, the young girl talking to her mother, is none other than the Ice Dragon Slayer in training. Crysteel, her foster mother is the Ice Dragon. Together they lived in a cave at the top of a frozen mountain in one of the coldest places in the world. Being raised in such a place, Kayla was used to the cold. So much so that she was completely comfortable wearing an oversized t-shirt, a white hat given to her on her 6th birthday by Crysteel, and a small pair of jeans.

"But I'll be bored!" Kayla says. Her current technique was to say anything that might make Crysteel stay.

Crysteel's round light blue scales rustle softly with an almost melodic jingle as she laughs softly. "Practice your dragon roar. That when I can demonstrate a new technique with my return."

The brunette gives her mother a stubborn look. Never did she like to so easily give in. Her stubbornness often got Kayla into trouble. "What about if I go down to the village!" Kayla's face brightens up with the idea, never having talked to other human children before. The idea brought joy and curiosity. All of Kayla's memories were within the cave, or anywhere else on the mountain training with her dragon.

The low rumble of the female dragon's laughter stops, her expression darkening ever so slightly as to not scare her child. "That is one thing I am most uncomfortable with you doing..." Crysteel says warily. Kayla looks at her confused, not sure why the dragon was suddenly so worked up. "It's not that I don't want you to meet the villagers down there, as I am hesitantly approving of humans for the most part, but they cannot know my existence. I'm not even sure how they'd treat you if you were to speak of myself or the magic that I have taught you."

"Oh." The small brunette nods and looks down, understanding what the dragon was saying. She didn't want people to dislike her just because her mom was a dragon. Even if it made her feel a bit sad. Either way, she was used to spending time with herself and her mother. "I guess that makes sense..."

A few minutes later, Kayla ran to the entrance of the cave to watch Crysteel fly off. She continues to watch until she could only hear the flap of the dragon's wings with her heightened dragon-senses.

Kayla manages to last a full hour in the cave. Practicing her _Roar of the Ice Dragon_ and using her ice to make a slippery ground to skate around on before getting completely bored. Grabbing her coat, Kayla runs outside to use her Dragon Slayer magic in different ways, though she's not able to control it very well. Trying her dragon roar one more time, she gets pushed backwards by the backlash and ends up falling down part of the mountain. Luckily the girl doesn't get that injured as she was sliding down snow and ice for the majority of the time.

Sitting up, very disgruntled and confused, she looks around to make sure of her surroundings. About to head up the mountain again, she hears the voice of people. Other _actual_ people. There's adults having conversations. The sounds of laughter coming from other kids her age. Even singing and music from a few stress down. Unable to stop herself, Kayla starts to run down the mountain until she stumbles into the street of the mountain village.

The lesson learned here; you should never leave a determined, dragon raised, and magically powered six year old alone.

Kayla tries to remain somewhat hidden, not talking to anyone and staying at the edge of the streets as she walks around. Even though she'd basically already done with Crysteel had said not to, Kayla was still trying to heed some of her warnings. The surroundings were wondrous for her. There were street lamps with dazzling flames every ten feet. An icy cobblestone road so you can find your way around. Shops with small groups of people milling about on the inside. The part that Kayla was loving most were the amazing smells of food that were new and unfamiliar. Everything was so differently, yet oddly familiar at the same time.

The scents, the smells, she tried to absorb everything as best as she could. Kayla had full knowledge that she couldn't stay here for too long, and once she went back home there was the chance she would never get the chance to come back. Not for a while anyways.

Catching the scent of her favorite food, apple pie, Kayla goes in the direction of a small bakery. Trying to find out how to get some, she's disappointed to learn that you have to pay. Being a small child who lives in the mountains with a believed mythical creature, she didn't have any money on her. Not wanting to leave the pastry bakery because of all it's wonderful scents, Kayla sits in a chair and entertains herself by looking around. The bakery was warm from all of the ovens, which was an unfamiliar and uncomfortable feeling for the brunette. The cold was more preferable. Not only that, but the walls were painted red which was an ugly color in her opinion.

While she looked around, Kayla's thoughts were interrupted by a superior sounding boy who was standing with his mother, "Hey, little girl! What are you doing here all by yourself. Where's your mom?"

Looking at the boy, Kayla can tell that he can't be too much older than herself. He was wearing a navy blue jacket with a white shirt underneath and black jeans. His raven hair was messy and disheveled, yet kind of cute at the same time. What annoyed Kayla was the smug look on his face.

"Who you calling little girl? I could be older than you," she retorts, not used to interacting with anyone other than her foster mother. The other boy rolls his eyes, but doesn't look away.

"Who are you anyway? I know almost all the kids here in town. But I've never met you before." Kayla continues to get more annoyed as she detected what sounded like pride and, again, a sense of superiority in his voice. Her mother was a kind yet stern and sarcastic dragon. Kayla had developed the same traits, along with a few not as desirable ones.

Thinking for a moment on how to respond she decides on, "I'm Kayla. Kayla Ravenfrost. You wouldn't know me because I live with my mom a few miles outside town. We're here for the day to do our monthly shopping." It wasn't a complete lie. About who she was and where she lived at least. "And who are you, Mr. I-Know-Everything."

"Gray," he says proudly, a small smile instead of a smirk coming into his expression as he walks over to Kayla, who gets out of her seat, "Gray Fullbuster. And I think I like you Kayla."

"Who is this?" Mrs. Fullbuster was done getting her order and comes over to her son, "Are you lost? Do you need me to find your family?"

Just having gotten happy with talking to the boy, now known as Gray, Kayla frowns, "No, I'm fine. My mom knows where I am and she's okay with me wandering off."

Apparently the other woman was not satisfied. "You stay here with the girl while I try and find her mom, make sure she doesn't go anywhere," says an unconvinced Mrs. Fullbuster who addresses her son. After asking the baker to keep an eye on the two children she leaves the pastry shop to find this mysterious mother of Kayla's.

Upset now, Kayla gets an idea and mischievously grins at Gray. "You don't think I need looking after do you? What do you say we go play in the park I saw at the other end of town? I doubt you always listen to your mom anyways."

Gray looks shocked for a moment before grinning back at the new girl. His original plan had been to be obedient, but the sneaky plans of her's sounded tempting. "That sounds awesome!" he says, "Plus my mom won't care too much, I could just say that you ran off and I tried to catch you if she ends up getting too upset with me later."

The two six year olds run off when the baker goes back to check on the oven and play in the park for hours. Kayla learns more about Gray, and tells him about herself just a little. She keeps up the pretense about living a little ways outside of town with her mom and never once mentions magic, let alone that she can use a great deal with it. After time goes by, and the two kids are wrestling around in the snow, the sun goes down.

"My mom will want me home by now," Gray says with a sigh, trying to wrestle Kayla off who currently had him pinned down.

"That sucks," Kayla says, plopping down in the snow next to him, "I guess my mom will want me back soon as well."

The two lay there, still laughing a little and breathing a heavily from playing around so much. "When's the next time you'll be coming to town?" Gray asks, "No one else likes to play the games I like to play in town, let alone a girl like you."

Kayla shrugs, "A girl like me?" She doesn't exactly understand why he added that part, or what he was implying. "I'm not sure. Maybe..." she seriously doubted it, but had taken an unexpected liking to Gray and wanted to. With the decision to visit the village, Kayla hadn't even considered the fact that she would end up talking to, or even making friends with anyone.

Before Kayla's able to say anything else, she hears the faint sound high in the sky. It was of powerful wings flapping. There was no mistaking it, Crysteel was coming home much earlier than expected.

"Well I definitely have to go now!" she jumps to her feet, followed by a confused Gray, "I'll see you some other time, okay? Sorry, but I really do have to hurry!" That being the last thing she said, the boy with the messy hair watches the girl with the brown braids run off towards the mountain. Feeling confused at first, he soon heads towards his own home where Mrs. Fullbuster would most assuredly be waiting for him.

Neither knew that the incidental meeting at the pastry bakery would be the most important event to ever happen to them, for if it hadn't happened, both of their lives would've taken drastically different courses. Ones that would be far less interesting and adventurous, but admittedly less dangerous and devastating as well.

Kayla Ravenfrost and Gray Fullbuster's fates were now entwined.


	2. And So They Met Their Teacher

Kayla was running as fast as she could up the mountain, struggling as her short legs soon got tired. When she finally got to the top, it was too late. There was the large, white and blue scaled dragon giving her daughter a stern look, "You disobeyed me Kayla."

"No I didn't! You said you'd rather me not go to the village," the human girl says under her breath, knowing well that Crysteel could hear her, "I didn't tell anyone about you or my magic. I just played in a park with this boy..."

Crysteel ushers Kayla into the cave, which warmed up a great deal as she sighed loudly, her warm breath making the whole cave a different temperature, "I guess you didn't do anything wrong. I'd still rather you not go into the village. In the past, children and adults who knew Dragon Slayer magic were made targets by others. Other mages and wizards who saw them as threats, or people without magic who thought that the Dragon Slayers were there to cause havoc to the world..." Crysteel heaves another sigh, seeing the look of guilt and fear in her young child's eyes.

"I'm sorry... I-I didn't think straight... I didn't know..." Kayla says, looking down at her feet. Crysteel smiles softly, which looks a little weird on the face of a dragon, and puts her head down in front of the child. Kayla calms down a little and hugs her.

"It's really alright child, I'm just worried about your safety. The last thing I want is to see you get hurt."

That night Kayla and Crysteel talk for a little while about Gray and what it was like in town. They come up with the plan that Kayla can go down into town once a week for a few hours at a time as long as she kept training hard every day, while maintaining her secret. This would also give Crysteel time to leave the cave every once and a while if she needed to.

Weeks went by, eventually months and soon a whole year. Kayla's Dragon Slayer magic was increasing slowly but surely. She and Gray met up every week and played in the park, soon becoming very close friends. She kept her secret, never telling him about Crysteel and never using magic when in town.

Most of their time was spent wrestling around, and playing pranks on other kids in town. A little over a year after they met, both were seven years old and laying in a snow bank at the edge of the mountain.

"You know, you don't act like a normal girl," Gray says matter-of-factly. It was something he brought up every few weeks. He was used to the other girls in town always wanting to play with their dolls and always wore dresses. Kayla was very much not like that. Her clothes were fairly similar to Gray's, she kept her hair shorter than most, just reaching her shoulders, and her idea of fun was exactly the opposite of what Gray expected girls to be like.

Her clothing choice and favorite activities aren't the only things that set Kayla apart from the other girls in Gray's mind. She was tough, determined, headstrong, and sneaky.

"Should I take that as an insult?" Kayla says, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I guess not, it makes you more fun," Gray says, looking up at the sky and catching snow on his tongue as it falls.

"Good," the brunette nods triumphantly. She raises a hand in the air and was about to summon ice around her small fist before remembering her promise to Crysteel. It was a daily struggle to not tell or show Gray any Dragon Slayer magic.

Both lay there, too exhausted from their earlier races around town to do anything else. Eventually they doze off into a light sleep. It was past the time Gray was supposed to be home, but still a couple of hours before Crysteel would return to the cave when Kayla woke up.

She woke up to the sound of a thundering sound not too far from the village. Getting to her feet, Kayla used her dragon sense of smell to figure out what the sound might be coming from. What she smelled made fear course through her veins. It was unlike anything else Kayla had ever experienced. It wasn't human, and it certainly wasn't another dragon.

"Gray!" Kayla says, trying to shake him as the thundering sound gets louder, "Gray wake up! We have to get out of here!"

"Whaddisit?" he says, his voice groggy from sleep, "My mom won't mind me being a little la-"

"I said get up!" she says frantically, pulling Gray up against his will, "Something's coming, and I don't think it's friend-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the head of a large horned demon came into view. Gray finally notices the sound and saw the demon himself. The two children stand frozen in absolute fear, "What.. What is that?!"

"I have no idea..." Kayla says. She grabs Grays wrist and starts to pull him towards the mountain, "We need to get to safety!"

"Wait!" Gray pulls his arm away, eyes filled with panic, "My parents! We need to go to them first!"

"But!..." Kayla knows they wouldn't be safe in the town, the demon monster had already made it to the outskirts, "Okay fine, but we need to be fast."

The girl raised by a dragon and the boy with the messy black hair run off into the village to Gray's house. Destruction follows as the demon destroys everything around him.

_We aren't going to make it. We're going to die if I don't do something..._ Kayla thinks, panicking as the destruction isn't just behind them but coming from all sides now. They were a block away from Gray's house when Kayla hears his parents' screams cut short. _No..._

"Gray, I'm sorry for this," she says with pain in her voice. Buildings were toppling over around them, and Kayla did the one thing she could think of to keep them safe and keep her secret. She punched Gray as hard as she could, while he wasn't looking, to knock him out.

"_Scales of the Ice Dragon!_" Kayla yells, her arms outstretched and magic circles appear at her hands. Crouching down by Gray's side, ice scales form around them in a dome shape as a feeble attempt at a shield. Kayla kept making more and more ice surround them for ensured safety to the point of exhaustion.

The last thing Kayla sees before passing out is a building falling right on top of them, breaking a small amount of the ice.

A woman walks into the village of rubble with her young disciple, taking account of all the damage, "I've heard of Deliora's destructive power, but I never expected this..."

A few meters away from her, were Gray and Kayla trapped under some rumble. They weren't severely injured or killed thanks to Kayla's efforts. The voice of the woman's made Gray stir a little, his bruised face twitching.

"Lyon!" the woman calls, "Get over here, we've got some survivors!"

A boy the same age as Kayla and Gray with spiky white hair gasps and runs over, "Hey!" Lyon says, "Are you two alright?!"

Gray opens his eyes, and Kayla who was trapped under one of his arms starts to stir as well. Looking up they se two worried people looking down at them.

Neither had the energy to say anything or move much, but Kayla nods her head ever so slightly. Lyon and his teacher help both out of the rubble.

"Can you two speak? What are your names? I'm Ur, and this is my student Lyon," Ur says, her voice warm and kind, though filled with worry as well.

"I'm Gray," he says, his face filled with pain and anger as he realizes what's become of his family, and everyone else in the town.

"My name's Kayla Ravenfrost," she says to Ur, worried because she needs to get back to Crysteel as soon as possible.

Lyon smiles a little at them, but neither will look up. The woman sighs and takes one of Lyon's spare jackets out of her bag, placing it around Gray's shoulders, "Don't despair you two, I won't leave either of you alone."

Kayla's eyes widen a little and she frowns, _That's right,_ she thinks, _my family would've been killed by Deliora as well if what I've been telling Gray was true. What do I do? Act like a grieving orphan or give away my secret?_

No one talks much, except for Ur explaining that it was a demon called Deliora who destroyed the village, as everyone walks through the rubble to the outskirts of what was once Gray's hometown. Gray himself was trying to hide the fact that he was silently crying.

Ur stopped once they were on the outskirts of the rubble, "You two have a choice now. I can take you with me as my apprentices so you'll stay safe and have a home, or I can take you into a town orphanage. Lyon here is one of my apprentices already, and I think I can manage two more of you."

"Apprentices of what?" Gray says, wiping away the last of his tears.

"I'm and Ice Maker Magic wizard," Ur replies, "It's your choice."

"Magic..." Gray nods a little, "I want to be your apprentice. That way I can get revenge for what's happened to my parents." Kayla stays silent. She was only sure of two things at the moment. She didn't want to loose Gray, and she had to find Crysteel soon so she could figure out what to do. Everything wasn't making sense and time seemed to be going by too quickly.

Yesterday evening, Gray and Kayla were racing each other down the main street of town. When Gray won, Kayla had tackled him playfully and both were having so much fun. It was less than a day later and now Gray was an orphan, his attitude seems to have changed and a strange woman was offering to teach the two of them Ice Maker Magic.

"Kayla, you'll come too right?" Gray says, giving her an expectant and slightly authoritative look.

Not knowing what else to say or do, she nods and keeps her head down. Ur raises an eyebrow at the small girl and can tell that there's something different about her. She could sense strong amounts of magical energy coming from Kayla. Lyon on the other hand, gives Kayla a smug grin, seeming to be happy with the fact that she was coming with them, though pretty indifferent about Gray on the other hand.

Before they have the chance to leave town, Gray looks back. His eyes hard with pain in sorrow, "Deliora... You're going to pay for this," tears start to stream down Gray's face and Kayla puts a hand on his shoulder, "I'll stop you. I swear it!"

A few tears starting to form in her own eyes, Kayla wraps her arms around her friend and hugs him. Neither say anything, Gray too frustrated to hug her back but is appreciative of it none the less.

Once everyone was relatively calm, they headed to Ur's house. They arrived around night, the temperature almost below freezing. All three of the kids were exhausted so Ur set up 4 blanketed ares in the living room for them to sleep. Lyon immediately lay down and went to sleep, soon followed by Gray.

"What's wrong Kayla? Aren't you tired?" Ur says, still trying to understand why this girl was being so reserved.

Kayla looks up at Ur and nods a little, having a plan on how to get home. The mountain that Crysteel's cave was on was still very close by and she could get home within thirty minutes or so.

Laying down next to Gray, Kayla relaxes and releases the tension in her body. Ur lays down next to her, and waits until she thinks all the kids are sleeping before resting herself. Kayla herself waits for what seems like hours, but it's only thirty minutes before Ur's breathing and heart rate slow down to confirm that she's asleep.

Kayla slips out of her blanket and sneaks to the door, grabbing her jacket and hat. About to slip outside, Ur appears behind her, "Where are you going little wizard?"

The girl jumps, falling into the snow outside the door, "W-What do you mean?"

"I can sense your magical power little one," Ur walks outside and closes the door behind her, "Where are you going, and what magic do you know?"

"I..." Kayla starts to say, but stops._ If I tell Ur, what will happen? Will I ever see Gray again? Will she see me as a threat?_ Just the idea of loosing Gray was enough to make her falter.

**Editor's Note: Please rate and tell me what you think. ^_^ I'll try and update the new chapter every day, might take a little longer if I'm not getting any feedback. Thanks for reading!**


	3. And So Fate Strikes Again

**Editor's Note: I decided to change my style of writing from third to first person because this is easier for me. Anyways, I hope that everyone reading doesn't mind. :) **

**Also a quick shout out to 'Rena Hibari Bonnefoy' for helping me think of how to do part of this chapter. :)**

**Kayla's POV**

"Come on, out with it. Where are you going all by yourself at this hour of the night?" Ur says again, giving me a stern look.

"No... nowhere. I just wanted to get some fresh air," I say quickly, making up what I'm saying on the spot, "and I don't know any magic at all, m-maybe you're just sensing my magical potential?"

"Hmm..." I can tell that she doesn't believe me. I don't doubt her either.

Ur ushers me back inside and has me get back into bed. Unsure what I'm going to do, I allow myself to calm down and soon doze off into sleep.

"Get up kids!"

I barely gain consciousness, usually woken by the light roar of a dragon. What does wake me up all the way is Gray flailing and hitting me in the face, "Ow, watch it," I complain quietly, getting up myself.

"If your going to train with me, then you need to be able to get up at a moment's notice. Take Lyon here for example," Ur says, putting on her jacket. I look over at Lyon to see that he was already ready to go out into the cold.

I look over at Gray who gets up to put his jacket on. When I would expect him to be excited, I'm surprised to find his eyes hard and cold as ice. I wonder if I'll never see the Gray I used to know, after today.

I force myself to get up and get ready as well, and we all head into a small blizzard, higher and higher up into the mountains. Lyon manages fairly well, and I'm used to climbing mountains so we stay up near Ur. Gray, on the other hand, starts to struggle after the cold gets more intense.

"Are you going to be able to keep up, Gray? I warned you this morning, training with me is going to be tough," Ur turns around to ask Gray.

"Ya, but I'll do whatever it takes! I have to become stronger than Deliora, 'cause someday, I'm going to beat him!" Gray says confidently, his eyes hard-set with determination. I smile and understand where he's coming from, a little excited myself for this magic lesson even though I shouldn't be here.

Not totally winging it, I have a plan to send a signal to Crysteel to let her know where I am and that I'm okay.

We start the lesson, oddly enough, by stripping. Ur says that if we have to learn how to control ice, we first have to 'become one with the cold.' She doesn't believe me when I tell her that I'm already completely used to is, thus forced to strip into my tank top and underwear. Lyon and Gray train next to me all day long in just their boxers, shivering madly. You get a few perks when raised inside a dragon's cave, I guess you could say.

When we're done training for the day, I wait until we're half way back to Ur's house before mentioning I 'forgot' my hat back where we trained. She's hesitant at first, but Ur lets me go back to get it. While in a clear snow bank with no one else around, I look up into the sky.

"_Roar... of the Ice Dragon!"_ I yell as loudly as I can, trying to produce enough magical power and a loud enough noise to signal Crysteel. It's a signal we came up with a while ago. If I use my roar in the air, it means I'm safe and I'll be home as soon as I can. If I shoot scales into the sky, it means I'm in trouble and need help.

I run into the cabin once done, and see Gray and Lyon wrestling on the ground, "Why are you two fighting now?" I ask curiously, grinning slightly. Even in just one day it was evident to me that those two wouldn't get along very well, even if there was a sense of brotherlyness as well.

"He said my hair looks funny!" Lyon answers, and the two continue to tumble around. I don't see Ur, but I hear her in a back room somewhere, maybe changing or something.

"Who said you could have fun without me?" I say, and laugh as I tackle Lyon off of Gray.

A month of this went by. We would all strip and learn Ice Maker Magic, come home and burn the rest of our steam off by playing around. Lyon and Gray got along most of the time, but for some reason they'd start randomly fighting because of an argument that happened while I wasn't in the room. In this month, I became good friends with Lyon, while Gray seemed a little more distant than usual. We were still close, but he didn't seem to want to spend as much time playing around or just talking anymore.

Now, I finally have my chance to get back to Crysteel. During the whole time I've been here at Ur's place, learning her magic, she's never taken her eye off of me. I could just leave if I wanted, but my friends were holding me back as well. After that first night I knew that going back home would mean not coming back here again.

Ur was in town with Lyon, doing some shopping while Gray and I were told to practice our magic. If I'm going to go back home, now would be the best chance.

Gray was in the living room, in his underpants as he's started the odd habit of randomly stripping now thanks to Ur's lessons, practicing making an ice shield. I pause for a minute, watching him. I really do like it here, Gray's determination, Lyon's... oddness, Ur's kindness. All three of them felt like family to me, but I have to go home.

"Hey... Gray?" I say, striding into the room and looking at him seriously.

"Ya? What is it?" he says, stopping his training for the moment and raising an eyebrow at me suspiciously.

"I'm leaving."

I don't know how else to put it, there's no other real way of saying it to him without half lying.

"What do you mean? You going to shop with Lyon and Ur?'

"No I mean... I have somewhere I need to be," I shake my head, "I know of, uh, some family that lives a little ways away who weren't killed by Deliora's attack. I realized that they'll be missing me, so I should go home."

He frowns, looking at me as if I just told him that I killed a puppy, "Does this mean your leaving? Your not going to learn magic with me anymore?"

There's silence in the room for a few moments before I nod, "Ya, and I need to g-go now. Please just trust me, and tell Ur and Lyon goodbye for me when they come back." I say, and hug Gray who grudgingly hugs me back.

Before he says anything that might tempt me to put off going home just any longer, I grab my backpack and run out the door, going as fast as I can back to the mountains.

Back to Crysteel's cave.

Back home.

What I arrive to in the cave surprises me. My foster mother is laying in the cave expectantly, not looking the slightest bit angry.

"I'm... home," I say slowly, expecting some sort of reaction. The only reaction I get out of Crysteel though, is her standing up and heading to the outside of the cave. Confused I follow.

"It's about time, I've missed you," she says softly, "I know what you've been doing, I've kept a close eye on you and your friends. But now you're home, and we can resume with your real training as usual."

Months go by as they did before I ever met Gray. I didn't forget about him, but I didn't let myself think about him too much either. I also missed Lyon and Ur. The magic Ur taught me didn't go wasted though, Crysteel taught me how to mix Dragon Slayer magic and Ice Maker Magic in some of my attacks to make it more powerful.

Crysteel had her tail curled around so it protected me from the harsh winds coming from outside the cave. It was one of the worst storms I've encountered.

"What's going on?" I ask, "I thought that it was supposed to be getting less disastrous and cold around this time of year."

"No need to worry child," she says, her voice firm and resolved, "It's nothing you need to worry about."

I frown, does this mean she knows the cause of the storm but won't tell me? If so, why?

"Is this even a normal storm?" I say, trying again, "It smells really weird to me."

She moves her head until it's next to me, "If I tell you, promise me you won't do anything rash."

"Alright..."

"It's Deliora."

This takes a moment before it sinks in. No way, was he close? What was he doing? A month earlier Crysteel and I moved to a different cave, above a different town so that we would have a place to get food again. If what Crysteel is saying is true, that means that all the people in _that _village are all going to die as well.

"Why don't you fight him? I'm sure you could defeat Deliora!" I insist, getting nervous that that horrible demon was so close.

"That demon, is a monster of Zeref's creation. Even if I did defeat him in battle, it wouldn't end very well for me. Not to mention it is of no concern to me what that monster does, as long as it doesn't hurt you."

I nod in understanding, still feeling bad about everyone who will most likely die tonight. Getting up, I run over to the entrance of the cave, forcing myself against the wind. I try to hear what's going on in the village down below, and finally smell for myself the retched stench of the demon that orphaned my best friend. Watching in horror, I see large explosions all around the base of the mountain.

In the back of my head I can hear Crysteel telling me not to watch and come back to rest, but all I can hear right now is the cry of pain from a boy. A cry of pain I've heard before, one time when Gray fell off of a small cliff while training with Ur one day. But this is much louder, and filled with a lot more pain.

Gray is down there, and he just got struck down by Deliora.

Not even sure how I got there so quickly, I'm half way down the mountain, using all my concentration to not fall down or get caught in a snowdrift. I can hear a dragon's roar telling me to come back, "If you choose to risk your life for that boy, don't expect me to help you!"

Still, I ignore her. I am content staying safe in the cave if Deliora were attacking people I don't know, I know that I'm not strong enough yet to protect a village, or that many people at all. But this was Gray, I heard him down there, and I _can_ protect him. If I did it once before, I can do it again.

My legs start to hurt from the strain of running too fast for so long, only finding the strength to keep going when I see large magic circles surrounding the demon. Not sure who cast the magic or what it does, I know that Ur must be down there with Gray as well, which means she won't let him or Lyon get injured.

Right as I reach the edge of the village, the light of the magical energy stops. Deliora was frozen in ice.

"UR!" Gray yells. I don't know what's happening or why. Quickly I run over to where the voice is coming from. I see Gray kneeled on the ground in distress, and Lyon on the ground unconscious.

"Gray, Gray what's happened!"

His messy hair seemed even more tussled, and there were scratches covering Gray's face, "Ur... she... sacrificed her life... to seal away Deliora..." Since the night Gray's parents died, this was the first time I've seen him cry again. I start to cry as well. How could Ur die? Why would she sacrifice her life? Was it to protect her students?

We don't talk much for a while, until Lyon wakes up.

"That's, that's Deliora!" he says, getting to his feet. I look up, not saying anything, "How did it happen? Did Ur cast the spell? Where is she now?! Tell me!"

I say nothing, feeling Gray's sobs shake beside me, fresh tears slipping down my cheeks again.

"She's... She's dead," Gray says, barely managing to get that much out.

"No... No. No! You jerk! How am I supposed to surpass her now!" Lyon runs over and shoves Gray into a rock, holding onto his shirt, "She's dead, and so is my dream because of you!"

"Lyon, get off of him!" I plead, trying to push him away from Gray. Lyon shoves me into the ground where I lay dazed.

"Where'd you even come from you traitor?!" Lyon says angrily, turning back to Gray.

I could see both boys crying, it taking a moment for Gray to respond, "I'm sorry.."

"That's not good enough! It won't bring her back, you killed my dream!"

It looks like Lyon's about to punch Gray so I get up, raising my hand and cast ice magic to blast him backwards. I kneel down beside Gray who's in more distress now, though not injured to my relief. It still doesn't stop Lyon, who's glaring at both of us now

"It's your fault she's dead. You're the one, Gray. You killed Master Ur."

**Editor's Note: Sorry that this chapter is a little bit rushed, I wanted to get more towards what the story is really about. The first three or four chapters are only meant to show you Gray and Kayla's past, once you get to chapter 8, it'll move onto when they're 14/15, being proper wizards of Fairy Tail.**

**Hope you like it, and reviews are greatly appreciated. :) Thanks!**


	4. And So They Are Fairy Tail Wizards

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The night Ur died, was the night Gray started becoming his old self again.

After Lyon ran off, Gray and Kayla found a place to stay for the night. Once Gray was asleep, Kayla went back to Crysteel. The dragon told the child of a place in the west where Gray could be safe, with other wizards. A place called a guild in the Kingdom of Fiore, one specifically named Fairy Tail.

Crysteel knew how close Gray and Kayla were, so she told her daughter to travel to Fiore with Gray and go to this guild. She herself would travel ahead of them, over the skies to leave a scent trail for Kayla to follow in order to find said guild, and find a new home near the Fairy Tail guild hall.

So the two children left. They traveled west in search of the powerful wizards Ur told Gray about. The boy had no idea that Kayla was following a specific path, just thinking they were going where ever.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Kayla's POV**

"Where are we going?" Gray asks me, sounding annoyed. He's always rather annoyed with me. But, he was annoying too so it was alright.

"How should I know, you're the one who said Ur talked about powerful wizards to the west."

"Ya well you're the one who's choosing where we go," he says, crossing his arms and refusing to move any farther.

He's been asking me this more often, and it's hard to act as if I don't really know where we're going. Maybe I'm acting too sure of the path? "Fine, I saw a map back in the last town that showed a guild hall on it, and it's somewhere this way. So come on, I want to get somewhere to sleep before the sun sets," I say. It's not a complete lie, I _did_ see a guild hall on a map in the last town, but it was a guild called Blue Pegasus, which is in the opposite direction. Not that there's anything wrong with that name or that guild, but Crysteel's waiting for me near Fairy Tail. Whatever that's like.

"Fine," he says, walking ahead of me. "but we better find these wizards or whatever soon. There's something I need to ask them."

We walk for a little while more, and I get an idea. Smirking I tackle him from behind and laugh, clinging to his back, "You're going to carry me, I'm tiiiiiired."

"What? No way! You're too heavy get off!" Gray shouts in surprise, trying to shake me off. I laugh and we end up wrestling on the ground again. To my surprise, he manages to pin me down for once, "Ha! I win!"

"No fair," I say, pouting at him, "I'm too tired, it doesn't count."

"Of course it does, I win!" he smirks and pulls me to my feet, "Race you to town!"

Gray sprints off, without his clothes. Sighing, I pick them up and stuff them in my backpack before chasing after him. That's when I notice at the bottom of a hill we climbed while messing around, was a town. The scent of Crysteel was strong around here and I get excited, running faster after Gray.

"Wait up!" I say, laughing. Admittedly, I cheat a little by propelling myself with magic. That's another thing I've been keeping from Gray, again. He's under the impression that I still know only very basic Ice Maker Magic, and is treating me like he's superior all over again. Of course he's not mean about it, but I still have to keep my secret.

Using magic to propel myself, I catch up to him in just a few seconds, "Where are you planning on going?"

"There's a town, and I'm hungry. Let's go find a place to eat for dinner."

"You should probably put your clothes on first," I say with a giggle.

He finally looks down and notices, spazzing out and trips down the rest of the hill. He's such a dope, but he has his moments. Sitting by Gray's side, I take some of his clothes out of my backpack, "You need to learn not to do that," I say, teasingly.

"Ah, shut up," he says, grudgingly taking the clothes and putting them back on, "Who has time for clothes anyway?"

"Normal people," I say, grinning at him. It takes a moment but he smirks back, "Come on, you wanted food right? I'm sure we can find some in town somewhere."

We walk into town, wandering around. I know this must be the town where Fairy Tail is, because Crysteel's scent is up in the mountains near here. That's when I spot the building. It's not very large, but not that small either. There was a sign notifying everyone it was home to Fairy Tail, with two fairy-like creatures on either side with tails I'm assuming.

"Why don't we go in there?" I say, pointing to what I assume is the Fairy Tail guild hall.

"Wait," he runs up to a smaller sign in front of the building.

**Fairy Tail Wizard Guild**

"This is a wizard's guild. We found one!"

Before I can say anything else, Gray walks into the building without me. Inside is a burst of energy that surprises me. Men were drinking, woman were flirting. I notice a girl about my age, with hair a little darker. She was looking over at Gray and I with interest. As I walk more towards the front desk with him, I also notice a teenager with spiky yellow hair who gives me a look.

"What are two kids doing in a wizard's guild?" he says to us with annoyance and disinterest.

Gray doesn't notice, running off to the front desk to talk to some old man, "What's a jerk like you doing in a wizard's guild?" I retort, glaring at the guy ever so slightly. Some sparks jump around his arms and he gives me what I assume is a look that's supposed to intimidate me.

"We don't need another kid who doesn't know how to use magic. It took us forever to convince Cana to learn magic."

"Who says I can't use magic?" I say, getting a little frustrated with this guy now. Not thinking very straight, I summon ice magic all around myself, causing a chill in the air that surprises the lightning kid. I notice another dozen pairs of eyes or so turn my way. That's when I start thinking straight again and dispel the magic, "Whatever, I'm going to find my friend."

Walking away quickly before anyone can question what I just did, I find Gray talking to the old man, looking rather disappointed.

"Sounds like your master was a wonderful and powerful woman," the old man says to Gray, who nods sadly and looks down, "You know child, you could have a home here if you want."

The man looks over at me, as if studying me. I feel weird and frown, "Who are you?" I ask."

"I'm the Master of this guild," he says, smiling at me, "and you must be Kayla, Gray's friend."

I nod, and he tells me that I can join the guild as well if I like.

Everything I do, I realize in this moment, is because Crysteel tells me to or allows me to do so. One thing she never said, was that I couldn't join as well. I could keep to Maker Magic, and tell everyone that I'm out on jobs most of the time when I'm really back with Crysteel. This is going to be a choice I make. I want to be apart of Fairy Tail.

Gray gives me a look, having expected me to accept immediately and is surprised by my silence. Do I want to be apart of Fairy Tail, or do I want to be apart of something with Gray? "Ya. Ya I definitely want to be apart of the guild," I finally say, looking at the Master with a wary smile.

A scary looking girl with a white ponytail comes over with a stamp thing, "Some more kids huh, Master? Do you two even know magic?" she says with a smirk.

"Yes," Gray crosses his arms, naked again. Well he has his boxers on, but still.

"Gray your clothes!" I warn frantically. It's okay when we're just traveling around but not in public!

He does a little spaz again and the girl puts the stamp on his chest, leaving a dark blue mark in the shape of the Fairy Tail guild sign. She turns to me and puts it on my left shoulder before I react. The same thing happens except the blue is just a little lighter than Gray's.

"I'm Mirajane. And you two look annoying and weird so don't come to me if you ever want anything," the scary girl says, walking off towards some guy who I assume is her brother.

"Well that was mean," Gray says, with a scowl.

"She doesn't scare me," I say, shrugging and walk over to the girl I saw earlier. She was sorting some cards out on a small table. They weren't normal cards though, and I get interested, "What are you doing there?"

The girl looks up, surprised by me but also doesn't seem weirded out that I'm here, "You just joined, right? I'm Cana. Um, this is card magic," she says, softly. Gray walks over and takes a look as well, still with no clothes on, "Why is your friend not wearing clothes?" she says to me, looking a little weirded out.

"He does that sometimes, can't get him to stop," I reply with a sigh, and the two of us laugh while Gray gives us an annoyed look.

That afternoon, Cana shows Gray and I around the guild, introducing us to some other people. The boy who was a jerk earlier was a guy named Laxus, Mirajane has a little brother named Elfman, and a bunch of other people who seem awesome yet weird at the same time. Kind of like Gray and I, I guess.

At night, Gray stays at some guy's house while I head into the mountains to find Crysteel.

When I arrive, Crysteel smiles with relief, glad that I made the journey safely. When she notices the guild mark on my shoulder I can tell she's not exactly happy, but she doesn't react much either. Did she expect me to join the guild along with Gray?

Either way, everything seems just about perfect now.

**Editor's Note: Sorry it's a bit shorter this time, but I hope you like it. :) Reviews are greatly appreciated. ^_^**


	5. And So Her Dragon Left

_One Year Later_

**Gray's POV**

"You guys suck! Why won't you let me come!?"

"Come on Kayla, you can't really expect us to let you come with," I say, crossing my arms, "You're too young."

Cana looks up from sorting her cards and gives me a look, "Really, Gray? You're making that excuse?"

"Ya, seriously. I'm only a year younger than Cana, and four months younger than you," Kayla says, giving me a steely look that's a bit unnerving. The look reminds me a little of the looks Erza gives me when she disapproves of something I do.

I cross my arms and look over at Cana for help, who doesn't give me any. She always takes Kayla's side and vis versa, it's not fair. The real reason I don't want Kayla to come on the job with us is because she's been too tired to do much of anything lately. It's getting more obvious every day, "How about we just not go on a job then," I say, scowling, "We can just hang out at the guild hall."

"We do that every day," Kayla says with a sigh, sitting down next to Cana.

"Every day you're not shut up in your house, which by the way you still haven't shown us," Cana points out, not looking up from her cards.

Cana brings up something that's been bugging me since we got here to Fairy Tail. Kayla would only be at the guild hall for short periods of time, claiming to be going out on jobs or just wanting to stay at home. But every time Cana and I ask why she's not staying at Fairy Hills, or if we can come to her house, she gives us some lame excuse.

"Gray, your clothes!" Cana warns me, and I look down seeing I only have boxers on.

"I don't have time for that!" I yell impatiently, sitting down across from Kayla, who looks bored and isn't effected by my stripping. She must've gotten used to it by now.

Erza walks over to us a few minutes later, looking stern, "I thought you three were going on a job together."

"We decided not to," Kayla says boredly, resting her arms and chin on the table.

"When was the last time you went on a paying job Kayla?" Erza says, sounding more menacing with every word. If she were talking to me, I'd probably freak out a little, but not Kayla. Other than Mirajane and Laxus, Kayla is the only other person in the guild not intimidated by Erza in any way.

"Last month, but I've been busy," she says with a yawn. Something in Kayla's stark green eyes surprises me, and I recognize it as the look she has every time she's about to tackle me. I hear the sound of ice magic and look over at Erza, seeing ice creep up and freeze around her ankles so that she's stuck to the ground.

Erza doesn't notice and moves to leave, but falls backwards into a really awkward position. I burst into laughter, almost falling off of my seat while Kayla smirks and laughs a little. The red head summons a sword to her hand and hacks at the ice before getting in Kayla's face, "That was you, wasn't it?" she growls.

Usually Erza and Mirajane have little spouts like this, but not Erza and Kayla. Soon both of the girls are in a fight, wrecking a portion of the guild hall with their sheer power. I laugh while I watch, but Cana gives me a disapprovingly look, "You really shouldn't be encouraging their fights. Some day Mira, Erza and Kayla are going to destroy the guild hall completely if they keep at this."

"I know, wouldn't it be epic!"

- - - _Next Day - - - _

I carry around a sleeping Kayla on my back as Cana and I walk back to the guild hall from our job. It was really easy, just retrieving a stolen item from some crooks in town. Two minutes ago, Kayla fell asleep while I carried her around so now I have to figure out where to take her.

"She can stay with me in my room tonight," Cana suggests, balancing herself on the ledge over a river that runs through town.

"If only we knew where she lived, then I could take her there," I say, grunting as I shift my friend into a more comfortable position.

Cana trips slightly but manages to catch her balance before falling, "Don't you think it's kind of weird that we don't know where she lives? We are her best friends."

"There's lots of things she's kept from me over the two or so years I've known her," I respond with a frustrated sigh. It's true too. What magic that was when she hit Lyon the last time we saw him, how she found us the night Ur died when we hadn't seen her for months, why she could just ditch the family she left me for while I was studying with Ur. The only explanation I've ever managed to get for those things, was 'Just leave it, and trust me, okay?'

It bugged the hell out of me.

"From what you've told me, sounds like she has a lot of secrets."

"I think it's more like only a few, really big secrets," I say, having thought about it before.

We arrive at the guild hall where Gramps is waiting for us, "Were you three successful?" he says, his question directed towards Cana. Makes sense since she's been here the longest of the two of us, and Kayla's asleep.

"Yes, Master," she says with a smile.

"Is Kayla alright?" he says to me me, noticing that I am carrying her.

Shifting her position again I nod, scowling, "Ya, she's just tired. And heavy."

Gramps laughs and motions for us to follow him inside. Once inside, I notice that some people who usually aren't around are here. Gildarts, who I met once ten months ago, is here. He was really super powerful so I get excited. There's also Laxus, which is less strange but ten times as annoying. While Erza and Kayla have a friendly rivalry, Laxus and Kayla really don't get along and argue more than actually fight. That in turn effects me since I'm her friend, so Laxus doesn't like me either.

"Is something big happening?" I ask, setting Kayla on a bench and try to wake her up.

"Nothing for you youngins," he says, grinning at us before walking off to the older members of the guild.

It sucks being nine sometimes. Damn grownups.

"Gray, your clothes," Kayla, who I just managed to wake up, says.

Cana laughs behind me, "Come on Gray, do you really have to you scowl at everything?"

"Well come on, does my stripping really have to be the first thing she points out after waking up?" I say, leaning back on the table.

Neither girl answer me, but give each other a knowing look that's twice as annoying, "What's going on over there?" Kayla asks, looking at the excited gathering of adults and teenagers.

"They're probably talking about the Fairy Dance we have every two years," Cana says, "It should be happening fairly soon. You have to be at least thirteen to attend. That's why Master Makarov didn't tell you Gray," she says with a sigh, her eyes drifting on someone who's gathered around the master. Cana looks like the Fairy Dance is something she's wanted to go to for as long as she's been here. It just sounds stupid to me.

"Sounds fun," Kayla says, sitting on the table and swinging her legs, "Maybe when we're older, you and I can go together, Gray."

"EH!?" I jump and look over at Kayla, who's smirking at me. Cana muffles her giggles on my right and I can feel my cheeks get red.

Kayla nudges my shoulder and grins, her eyes sparkling with mischief, "I'm just teasing you, birdbrain," she says, making me feel like an idiot. Cana's giggles get louder behind me, and I storm off towards the door, reclining back with my arms behind my head.

"You girls are such jerks."

_Two Years Later_

**Kayla's POV**

"And then there were these Vulcan! We took on like twenty of them at once!" I say excitedly, telling Crysteel about a job Gray, Cana and I took earlier this week. I haven't been able to go back to the guild for five days because Crysteel's been keeping me busy.

"Sounds exciting," she says, and I can hear amusement in her voice, "Now can you go back to what we were doing now?"

I stand up and put my hair into a messy ponytail, "Oh ya, what were we doing again?"

"Your blizzard attack," she reminds me, relaxing into the clearing I found when we first started living here. It's the perfect place away from civilization where we could practice.

Oh right. I still haven't been able to master this move quite yet. It's mixing a Secret Art of the Ice Dragon, and my Maker Magic. Concentrating I summon a large magic circle beneath me, causing ice magic to swirl around me. I put my hands together and take a deep breath, "_Ice Make: Weapons!_"

A dozen swords and axes appear in mid-air around me, pointed upwards. Next I raise a hand up in the air, and the other out in front of me, magic circles appearing at both, "_Secret Art of the Ice Maker Dragon Slayer: Blizzard of a Dozen Blades!_"

The ice around me swirls around the blades in masses, making them point forwards. Right before I make all of the ice blast forwards in a massive attack I loose my energy and fall to my knees. The swords and axes explode into shards of ice, and all the other magic calms as if just a wind.

"Dammit, why can't I do it?" I say, frustrated and tired. Crysteel sighs behind me, and I frown, "should I really be so exhausted from trying a move like that?"

"I told you dear, it takes practice. You'll get it eventually," Crysteel says. I fall back in the snow and just lay down, sighing loudly. It's always hard for me to read Crysteel's expression, but right now it's even harder than usual. I can't tell what she's thinking at all.

It usually doesn't take me more than three weeks to at least be able to use a technique, if not master it. I close my eyes and let out a mini dragon roar which freezes the air above me, causing it to snow in a small area. The sound of dragon scales clinking together behind me tells me that Crysteel is laughing silently at my antics.

She lets me rest in the snow some more before we head back to the cave together. We arrive right as the sun is setting, and I feel like I could fall asleep immediately, "How much longer do you think it'll be before I can use that attack?" I ask, lying down on some blankets next to Crysteel's head.

"I wouldn't rush it. Obviously no one has used that attack before, since you're the first Ice Dragon Slayer who also uses Maker Magic," she says, closing her eyes. I smile a little at the pride in her voice, "It shouldn't take you much longer, you were much closer today than you were even yesterday."

Satisfied, I nod and close my eyes, resting a hand on Crysteel's snout, "Night, mom," I whisper.

"Good night sweetheart, I love you," she says as softly as a dragon can, putting a smile on my face. That's the last thing I remember before falling asleep.

When I wake up in the morning, it's surprisingly warm. I sit up and rub my eyes, "Why is it so warm?" I say, and open my eyes. I blink a few times, confused by the absence in the cave. It feels much larger than usual, because I'm all alone in it. I never really realized how big it is, probably because Crysteel takes up so much space.

Wait, where is Crysteel? She didn't tell me she was going anywhere, and she always has in the past... Getting slowly more confused, I guess that the cave is warmer since the cold that Crysteel emits naturally is gone with the absence of the dragon herself. Maybe she's outside somewhere. I put on a green dress that Cana gave me a month ago, telling me it would match my eyes and that I should try something more girly for once.

It's not exactly what I like, but today I was planning on going back to the guild so I guess I should wear it. me. After debating it, I put on a pair of jeans as well to have something more familiar.

Once I'm outside of the cave, I look around, but don't see anything. It's eerily quiet as well. There's no heartbeat, or breathing near by that could be Crysteel, so I sniff the air for her scent. That's when I start to panic. There's absolutely no trace of my foster mother. Not a fresh, or even stale scent.

"CRYSTEEL!" I yell, panicking, hearing no response

"CRYSTEEL!" I yell again, this time putting my voice into a '_Roar of the Ice Dragon_' so it can be heard from farther distances. I sit down in the snow and wait, knowing that she'll come back. She has to. There's never been a time where she's just got up and left me without saying where she's going, and she's certainly never been far enough away to not hear me call her like that.

It's hours later when I finally give in and start crying. I can't remember the last time I cried so hard, if I ever have in the past. I hug myself and hide my face in my arms, crying harder and harder as the minutes pass. There's a pressure around me, not an uncomfortable one, and I can tell that ice and snow are swirling around me right now. I don't care enough to try and stop it.

Another hour later and I still can't stop. How could she abandon me? What did Crysteel do to her scent in order for me to not even find a trace of it? Did I do something wrong? Exhausted from crying so long and letting my magic pour out into a small ice storm around myself, I wipe away my tears and pack my few belongings into a backpack. When I get to the hat that Crysteel gave me four years ago on my sixth birthday, my tears fall faster.

With my hat on my head and backpack slung across my back, I run down the mountain as fast as I can. All I want right now is to see Gray and Cana. They're the only two people who I can imagine having the capability of cheering me up, even if I can't tell them why I'm so upset. Or can I? No... I'll still keep my secret, even if Crysteel's abandoned me.

**Gray's POV**

I rub the back of my head, scowling at Erza, "Was throwing me into the wall really necessary?"

"You stepped on my cake, what would you have done if I ruined your cake like that?" she says, sounding upset. I'd ignore it if Erza ruined my cake, not throw her into a damn wall.

Cana sighs at meover at her table, not sorting her cards for once, instead just looking at a few of them. She's lucky she never gets into fights with the other members of the guild. Not that I care, it's just Erza and Mira that scare me. I get up and walk over, noticing that they cards she has are new.

"What are those?" I ask, only semi-interested until I notice that two of the cards have mine and Kayla's faces on them.

"They're cards that'll allow me to contact you two whenever I want, through..." she says, pulling out two cards with her face on them and presents them proudly, "These cards. It's a cool part of my magic that I just managed to learn."

I have to admit, that's pretty cool, "Too bad you can't contact Kayla right now. She's been gone for too long," I say. It's been six days now since she went home or out on a job or something. I can never be sure with her, and it's annoying.

"No need to," Cana says, and I look at her confused. She's smiling smugly, "And she's wearing the dress I gave her."

I look over towards the front of the guild and see Kayla at the door. Cana was right, but I don't think dresses fit her very well. It doesn't exactly... look like the Kayla I know. I start to walk over to her, about to give her a hard time for being gone so long when I see the look on her face and freeze, freaking out a little. She's not looking away from the ground, but I can still see the tears falling down her cheeks.

"Cana?" I say, looking over at the other brunette. I'm really not sure what to do. Cana walks over to Kayla, and the two hug. I stay a little ways back, making a face. I've never seen Kayla like this and I'm not sure I ever want to again. It doesn't suit her to be so upset. Eventually, the two come over to me and we all sit at a table.

"I don't want to talk about it," Kayla says softly, before I'm able to say anything. Surprising, another secret. Not. Even so, I can't find it in myself to get upset with her.

Kayla rests her head on my shoulder and closes her eyes. I start to spaz out, before realizing I shouldn't disturb her when she's this upset. She shakes silently and I look over her to give Cana a look that says 'Help!' As always she does nothing, just shrugs sadly and looks just as confused as I feel.

"Do you need anything?" I ask Kayla hesitantly, stiffening.

She doesn't say anything for a while, maybe trying to control her sobs before speaking, "Honestly? I need a place to stay... I uh, never really had a house or anything in the first place..."

Cana and I look at each other, her eyes just as wide as mine probably are. That would make sense, considering she never told us where she lives. It still doesn't explain why she'd be gone for days at a time, and everything else that she never fully explains.

"You can stay at my place," I say, rubbing the back of my neck uncomfortably, "It's just a small apartment but I can make it work."

Not sure quite how yet, she sits up and wipes away her remaining tears. "Thanks Gray. It'll only be for a short amount of time before I get enough money for my own place at Fairy Hills or some place... I don't want to be a burden."

I frown, giving her an annoyed look, "You're not a burden Kayla, I'd do anything to help you," I say. It's Kayla's turn to look surprised now, though I don't know quite why. She smiles just faintly and nods.


	6. And So Fire and Ice Meet

**Kayla's POV**

"Kayla! Get up, Erza's going to kill us," Gray says, shaking me awake. Groaning I shoo him away with a hand, hitting his face on accident, "Hey!"

"Sorry," I say, laughing a little, "but you know better than trying to wake me up before eight," I hurry out of bed with Gray behind me, and I run into the bathroom to get dressed. For the past two weeks I've been staying at Gray's apartment, house, place, I don't know what to call it. I've been staying where he lives. At the moment he only had one bed, so we both slept in it.

Cana finds it weird, but I don't see why because we practically slept in the same bed while training with Ur, and Lyon was with us too. I've been going on jobs every day to get money to buy another bed. Gray has convinced me to stay at his place, which is fine since I don't fancy the idea of living alone.

It's not the only reason I've been going on jobs. The only way I can distract myself from the despair of being abandoned by my foster mother is by always doing something.

"Come on!" I hear Gray calling, "Erza wants us for something this morning, if we're late she'll kill us."

I walk out of the bathroom, finishing my second braid. Gray was wearing his jacket and clothing, but it'll be off in the next twenty minutes, "You know I'm not scared of her," I say, taking my time as we walk to the guild hall, "I'd like to see her try and force me to do something."

"She doesn't scare me either!" Gray says, giving me a look, "I just don't like her when she's in her moods."

Putting a hand over my mouth I try not to laugh, "Just yesterday you told me that she scared you."

"Yes, she _scares_ me," he says grudgingly, and I can tell he doesn't want to admit it, "But I'm not_ scared_ of her."

I don't see the difference but I leave it be, suppressing my smile. I jump up onto the ledge of the river, messing around, "BOO!" Gray yells, jumping in front of me. Flailing I start to fall over and into the lake before Gray manages to catch me, "Sorry, didn't mean to make you fall," he says, smirking at me.

"You're such a jerk sometimes," I say, smiling just a little, "But now you have to make up for it by carrying me the rest of the way to the guild," I say, smirking.

"What?! No way!" he says. Before he can stop me, I jump on his back and laugh. Grunting, he scowls but grabs onto my legs and adjusts me as so.

_(Note: He's giving Kayla a piggyback ride essentially, I wasn't really sure how to write that without it sounding weird, lol)_

We walk into the guild and there's some commotion going on in the back. I notice a new kid with spiky pink hair talking to Macao and Wakaba. Thinking nothing of it I have Gray walk over to where Cana is. I can't remember more than two times that she wasn't messing around with her cards.

Dropping off of Gray's back I run over the rest of the way and jump into the seat next to my best friend, "Cana, I need your help! We need to go shopping later," I say, trying to get her attention.

Cana looks up and gives me a look, "Are you sure? The last time you went shopping with me you got upset with me for forcing you to try on those clothes," she says. I scowl, remembering. When you shop with Cana, you don't get what you want done. Last time I was trying to find a backpack, and ended up with two dresses I haven't even warn yet.

"Well you can't blame me," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Please don't make her buy anymore dresses," Gray adds, though his attention isn't on us but on the pink-haired boy instead.

I turn back to Cana, "I don't see how we can get clothes this time though, I need help finding a bed. After all of those jobs, I finally have enough money."

"Oh come on, we need to get some clothes for you. Look at what you're wearing!" Can says, giving me an amused look.

I look down at myself and frown, "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

The look Cana gives me makes me feel self conscious, which is weird. I've never felt self conscious about how I look before, "It looks like you decided to wear Gray's clothes. I mean, a purple zippy, navy blue shirt and black jeans? It even clashes in an ugly way."

Blushing I cross my arms, "I already grew out my hair really long, I don't think I need to wear dresses and skirts too. I'm completely fine with dressing like a boy."

"Yes, and you look so much cuter now!" Cana says with a smile, "Even Gray told me himself that he thought you looked better," she says, and winks. I blush more and look over at Gray. Luckily he's not paying attention anymore.

"Fine, we can go shopping for clothes as well," I grunt unhappily, sticking my tongue out at Cana who rolls her eyes and turns back to the cards on the table.

We sit around for a few minutes, me making different little ice figures of people in the guild with Maker Magic, when the boy with spiky pink hair comes over. Something in the air changes, and I frown. Is it his scent? I smell the air around him and freeze. He smells different.

He smells like...

Like...

A dragon.

What?!

"Hey you, are you some sort of pervert? Why aren't you wearing any clothes?" the pink boy asks, looking confused and irritated.

"No, I'm not a pervert! At least I'm not a creepy little liar," Gray says, standing up and getting in the other boy's face.

"What do you mean? I didn't lie about anything."

I'm frozen in shock. Why does this kid smell like a dragon? Could he... Could he be like me? He can't have been raised by Crysteel for obvious reasons. Are there really other dragons training kids in their magic? If that's true, maybe he can tell me where to find Crysteel.

"I heard you talking to a lot of people. You were telling them you were raised by a dragon. What is that supposed to do? Make them think you're better than everyone? Everyone knows that the Gray is the best boy wizard in the guild!"

"Wow, talk about being humble," Cana mutters, looking at them annoyed.

"It's true! Igneel _was _a dragon!" he says, sounding hurt, "And put on some clothes you pervert!"

A small grin creeps up on my expression. This other boy was raised by a dragon like me, one named Igneel too. I need to talk to him when no one else is around... I wonder if Gray would believe that I was raised by a dragon if something like that was coming from me.

"I'm not a pervert, dumbass!" Gray says, and tackles him. I can't help laughing a little despite my confusion as the two wrestle and fight. They met, what, a minute ago and they're already fighting? Makes more sense when the new boy summons some fire, about to punch Gray with a flaming fist. Maybe it's the opposite of ice and fire that automatically make them dislike each other.

"What are you two idiots doing?" Erza says, looming over the two. Gray stops immediately, but the other boy just gives Erza a weird look, "Natsu you just got here, should you really be getting into fights so soon?"

The boy, who I'm guessing is named Natsu at this point, grins at Erza, "I can fight you too!" he says, looking excited. I resist the urge to laugh when the scarlet haired wizard sends Natsu flying into a wall with one punch, "Ow..." he says, dizzy and confused.

I run over with Cana close behind me, smiling at Natsu, "Don't feel bad, she does that sometimes," I say, holding out my hand to help him up. He takes it after a moment's thought and I pull him up, "I'm Kayla by the way. And I'm guessing you're Natsu?"

"Yep! The Fire Dragon Slayer," he says, grinning proudly. Another moment later and he gives me a confused, and concentrated look, "Hey... you smell like a dr-" I clamp my hand over his mouth, trying to laugh innocently for Erza, Gray and Cana who were giving me weird looks.

"Haha, ya. I forgot to take a shower this morning, I must smell pretty bad, sorry new kid," I say quickly. Natsu pushes me off of him and gives me a weird look, "No one knows," I whisper too quietly for any human to hear, but if Natsu really was raised by a Dragon he can hear it.

Natsu gives me another confused look, then shrugs and walks away with a small side glance towards Erza. Sighing I look back at my three friends, who are all giving me a weird look, "What?"

"What was that about?" Gray asks annoyed, "That flame freak seemed to recognize you in some way."

"Nope," I say, shrugging, "Now come on Cana, we have shopping to do!"

Cana lets it go, thankfully, and smiles excitedly, "Awesome! I know just where we can go first," she says, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the door. Gray stays behind, most likely to get into some more trouble.

The rest of the day is spent with me being violated while Cana forces me into different clothes. I'm not even sure why anyone wears some of this stuff, it's so uncomfortable. The dresses all have scratchy fabrics, the skirts all feel too tight on my waist. I finally manage to convince her to stop after about three or four hours. In the end we manage to find a small bed that's just right, as well as two new dresses and some 'girly' jackets.

We go back to Gray's place to drop off my clothes, and some other guys are going to deliver the bed later today.

"You better wear some of those clothes we got today," Cana says, giving me a smug look, "You still haven't warn the clothes I got you last time.

"The clothes you forced me to get last time," I correct, smiling and nods, "Fine, I'll wear them at some point. I do owe you for helping me out today."

As we walk into the guild hall for dinner, flashes of blue and red were tumbling around followed by a girl in armor trying to break them up. How much can these two possibly dislike each other after only a couple hours of not liking each other.

Gray and Natsu start coming towards Cana and I, and before they can hit us I shove the two away from each other and laugh, "What are you two doing?"

"He keeps calling me a pervert!"

"He keeps calling me a liar!"

I laugh softly, "Well I can tell you Natsu, that Gray isn't a pervert. He just has some weird habits. And I doubt Natsu would lie about something like that, Gray," I say. Both of them just cross their arms and turn away from each other, refusing to say anything.

There's nothing like keeping your best friend and the new kid with a similar upbringing from fighting, "Come on Cana, let's leave these two dolt heads alone," I say yawning. Together we head towards the back of the guild and talk. I'm only half listening to everything Cana's saying, only thinking about talking to Natsu at this point. The same problem happened earlier when we were shopping, and Cana kept getting annoyed with me for not paying attention to her.

Another hour passes and we eat dinner before Gramps tells everyone to go home. Well, all the younger guild members. You're not allowed to stay at the guild hall past a certain time if you're younger than 13, which bugs me. Sure, you let us go fight monsters and assorted crooks around the kingdom but we shouldn't stay up past our bedtime.

"I don't see why Gramps forces us to go home so early," I complain to Gray and Cana as we leave, having finally managed to pull Gray away from his bickering.

"There's no reason to complain, we already have much more freedom than most kids our age," Can says, grabbing my arm with one hand and Gray's with the other, "Now come on, I have something to show you!"

She starts to pull the two of us away when Natsu appears in front of us and points at me, "You! You're going to come with me," he says, pulling me away from my friends. Gray starts to follow us, probably to try and stop Natsu but I tell them it's fine and follow Natsu on my own.

"What is it?" I ask when he stops, but I already know what he's going to say.

"You smell like a dragon!" he says excitedly, "Are you like me?"

I bite my lip, and nods. There's no way I can keep it from him if he can smell it.

"And you were raised by a dragon too, right? Do you know where Igneel is?" he says, looking really urgent.

That's not right, Natsu was the one who's supposed to help me find Crysteel. If he doesn't know where his dragon Igneel is, then maybe he's having the same troubles as I am. Maybe there's a link between the two.

"No... No I don't. I don't even know where my dragon, Crysteel is," I say, sighing, "She vanished on the 7th."

"So did Igneel," Natsu says, and I get more confused, "Ughhh I don't like this, it's hurting my head to think about."

We both stand there for a few minutes, me rocking back and forth on my feet and he leaning back on his arms behind his head. Getting an idea I grin and start running towards the hills.

"Hey, wait up! Where are you going?!" Natsu calls, chasing after me.

"You were raised by a dragon, which means you know Dragon Slayer Magic, right? Fire I'm assuming from what I saw you do earlier," I say, looking at the boy on my right who nods, "Well I'm an Ice Dragon Slayer. I want to see your magic!"

Natsu's face lights up and I can tell he's just as excited, "You know Dragon Slayer Magic too?! So cool!"

The two of us run to the top of a smaller mountain on the outskirts of Magnolia, and into a valley that's only a few meters below the surface of the mountain.

"Why don't we see who's more powerful?" Natsu says, grinning at me, "We can make it a fight!"

"That wasn't what I was thinking, but sounds cool to me," I say. This is going to be the first time I can use my real magic all out in front of someone other than Crysteel, "Oh, and please don't tell anyone in Fairy Tail about this," I add quietly.

"Why not? How come no one knows who you really are?" he asks.

I sigh, "Because Crysteel never wanted me to tell anyone. She said that people might not like or trust me because of my upbringing."

Natsu squints his eyes at me, "That's stupid. Igneel never told me to do that."

"Well Crysteel isn't Igneel," I say defiantly, slightly peeved off.

"Still stupid," he says, "If anyone doesn't like you, you can just beat them up."

Because he's so successful doing that with Gray and Erza. Smirking I summon a magic circle to my hand, "_Scales of the Ice Dragon!_" The blast of the ice attack throws Natsu back into a bush, where he lays dazed.

"That wasn't fair! I didn't know we started!" he yells, getting out of the foliage.

"Oops," I grin.

The fire boy starts running towards me, fire appearing at his fist, "_Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!_" I jump in the air and dodge, feeling searing heat just under my feet. This is going to be fun.

**Gray's POV**

"Where is she?" I say to Cana, really annoyed, "And why'd she run off with that pyro freak?"

"How should I know?" Cana says with a sigh, walking off back to Fairy Hills, "She can make other friends you dope so leave her be. I'm sure she'll be home soon," she walks off and I stand in front of the door of my place, really annoyed.

It would've been fine if it were anyone except that stupid pyro. Or any other boy. Why do I suddenly care so much? Grunting I'm about to go inside when I see flashes of light in the corner of my eye. Up in the mountains, fairly close, are flashes of what looks like fire and some sort of blue magic.

Not knowing what else to do, I run back to the Guild Hall to tell Gramps. He and a few other wizards like Macao had already noticed, and were watching. I look again at the flashes of light and notice that it's ice and fire.

"What's going on up there?" I ask Gramps.

"Looks like Natsu and Kayla are getting along rather well," Macao says sarcastically, "I'm just glad they're not fighting in the guild hall."

That's Kayla and Natsu? Gramps looks amused and shakes his head, "Actually Macao, I think that's exactly what's going on. If they were actually fighting, they wouldn't have gone up into the mountains. What do you say you and I go check on those two, Gray?" he asks, looking at me. I scowl and nod, annoyed. But why am I annoyed?

Gramps tells everyone else to stay at the guild before the two of us make our way up the mountain. It takes a few minutes but soon we arrive at a small valley where I see Natsu and Kayla.

_"Wing Slash of the Fire Dragon!_" Natsu yells. I watch in surprise at the way his fire magic works. I thought his fire would just be thrown at people, but this is more precise and controlled.

Kayla dodges the attack, jumping over Natsu's head and turning around before he can react. There was joy on her expression as she yells, "_Roar of the Ice Dragon!"_

Wait. What? A magic circle appears in front of her face, producing a wave of ice magic that knocks Natsu over. Since when did she use magic like that? "She just used magic like Natsu's!" I say, looking over at Gramps for an explanation.

"Yes... I had a suspicion..." he replies, smiling to himself.

I stand there confused and unsure what to do. Down in the valley, Kayla helps Natsu to his feet before both notice us. Kayla's face goes white when she sees me.

**Editor's Note: Thanks for reading everyone, and reviews are greatly appreciated. :)**

**Also, I know this is a long shot, but I have absolutely no artistic skills and I was wondering if anyone would be interested in drawing Kayla and Gray for me. :) Just PM me and I'll tell you what Kayla looks like in my head, lol. Thanks again for reading! :D**


	7. And So She No Longer Lies

**Kayla's POV**

"Hey guys!" Natsu says with a grin, and walks over to Gray and Master Makarov. I'm still pale. Gray saw us, could it be that he saw me use dragon slayer magic, "Did you see that? Kayla's an Ice Dragon Slayer! Her magic is so cool! Though not as powerful as mine."

"Are you kidding me?!" I nearly scream, chasing after him. About to use my dragon roar, Gramps lays a hand on my shoulder to calm me down, "You said you'd keep it a secret!"

Natsu gives me a confused look then seems to realize I'm right, "Oh ya, sorry."

Gray looks like he's about to say something, but Makarov doesn't let any of us speak, "There's no time to bicker you three. It seems some things need to be sorted about, but from what I can tell Kayla felt like she needed to keep this a secret from anyone. But now that the bag's out, we can tell everyone we have two dragon slayers in Fairy Tail!" he says.

I just look at him, confused. He seems to be enjoying this too much. The three of us are ushered back to the guild hall, where Makarov tells us to go home. Natsu leaves and Gray and I head back to our place, neither speaking until we're inside the house. It makes more sense now that Gramps wouldn't let us talk at first, it gave Gray time to cool down.

"So. That's the secret huh?" he says with a grunt, leaning back on the wall with his arms crossed, "I don't know if I believe it, but you were raised by a dragon like Natsu says?"

The silence goes on for another few minutes before I nod, "I never told you, or anyone else, because I wasn't sure what people would think of me. Take Natsu for example, you spent the day calling him a liar and other people think he's just trying to get attention. Her name... her name was Crysteel, the ice dragon. But she's gone now."

"Is that why you suddenly needed a place to stay the day you came to the guild crying, and we could never come to your house?" he asks. I nod, looking down at my feet, "Well, you're a freak. And now I know why."

My heart sinks at first and then I smile a little, "Ya, well, I'm a powerful freak who can use her real magic now so be careful what you say," I say with a grin, making Gray roll his eyes and go over to his bed.

"Well, go to sleep cause I'm way to confused to ask questions now and it seems your bed was set up while we were gone," he says, climbing into bed. Following his lead, I don't bother to change into night clothes because I'm too tired anyways.

Ice Dragon Slayer. That's what Natsu, master, and Gray know me as now. How did this happen so quickly and without too many questions? Master seems to have already guessed some how. By morning, Natsu will have told the whole guild my true identity. Telling him wasn't the smartest idea, but the idea of telling someone who would understand who I really am was too hard to resist. But I guess it won't be so bad. The only other person who doesn't know yet that I'm worried about is Cana, and I don't think I have to worry about her. She was fine with Natsu earlier.

Weird how life can change so drastically in less than an hour. Tonight is the first night I'm able to sleep without nightmares about what might've happened to Crysteel.

... ... ...

"Why is Natsu telling the guild that you were raised by a dragon!?"

"People don't get that I don't like being woken up early," I grumble, opening my eyes to see Cana looking at me surprised, "Umm... is he really up this early telling everyone?" She nods and I sit up yawning. From across the room, Gray sits up in his bed. Both Cana and I squeal, covering our eyes, "Dude, you're not wearing _anything_!" I say, "At least put on your boxers!" The sound of moving around and footsteps alerts me that the little stripped boy is putting on some clothes.

"How did you manage to strip in your sleep?" Cana says. Slowly taking my hands away, I sigh in relief to see he's put his pants on.

"Don't ask me, blame Ur," he says, sounding grumpy, "And yep, according to Natsu and Kayla, she's a fullblown dragon freak."

Smacking him on the back of his head, I sit back down on my bed, joined by Cana and Gray. The three of us talk for a few hours about Crysteel and my 'secret life'. Considering the truth is out now, talking about it should be fine. I let them ask any questions they want about everything, and I explain to Gray a lot of what was going on back where we were raised.

From as far as I can tell, they believe me.

"Well now we have to go shove it in people's face," Cana says, pulling me towards the bathroom with a pile of clothes in her arms. Gray waits outside while Cana forces me into a purple dress, and puts my hair up into a similar ponytail as her own.

"What are you doing?" I complain when she starts to curl my bangs, "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care how I look?"

"Everyone at the guild and people who we help out on jobs are going to be looking at you differently now. So why not give them something different to look at? You look really pretty when you let me try for you," Cana says, smiling at me, "Now let's go!"

I smile a little, and follow Cana out to where Gray is. He gives me another piggyback ride to the guild, "Do you really think I'm pretty, Cana?" I ask.

"Ya, you're one of the prettiest girls at the guild," Cana says, and grins at Gray, "Don't you think?"

Gray almost drops me, and I squeak slightly as I wrap my arms around him tighter, "Ugh, ya, sure. She's pretty I guess," he says, not quite sounding like himself. What's up with him? My cheeks feel a little hot for some weird reason.

"What's wrong you two?" Cana says, looking sneaky, "Your cheeks are all red."

"Shut up," I grumble, as we walk through the doors of the guild hall. Gray doesn't say anything and puts me down once we're inside.

The first thing I notice is Natsu standing on a table yelling at someone, with fire nearly coming out of his mouth. To think that I thought he could keep my secret last night. In a way, I guess I'm grateful.

Mirajane the she demon comes over to me, looking pissed off about something, "How come you never told us you're a dragon slayer?" she demands. Something tells me Erza did something to make her angry earlier and she wants to get in a fight with someone.

With a small smirk I shrug, walking past her, "You never asked," I say. Maybe it's not my best choice to act so cheeky, but it's more fun. Gray snickers behind me and I hurry over to get some food. Laxus stands in my way again and I sigh, "What is it now? I just want food."

"There's no way a wimpy little girl like you is a dragon slayer," he says, sparks running through his hair.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" I say, sighing, "I can prove it if you'd like."

Okay well that was an even worse decision. As much as Laxus gets on my nerves, I have to admit that he's more powerful than me. To my relief he rejects the idea and walks over to his friends Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen. The rest of the day I'm bombarded with questions from Lisanna, Elfman, Levi, and just about everyone else. At one point I just get tired of it and leave.

The reason I kept my secret for Crysteel was to stay safe, and for people to not judge me just because of who I was raised by. I thought people would have negative reactions, but overly positive and excited ones are almost as bad. Eventually it'll get better, and Natsu's going through the same thing. He doesn't really care though, he's really prideful of everything about being a dragon slayer, which is really awesome I must admit.

"What are you doing out here?" Gray says, appearing by my side. He must remember that I come to the park when I want to get away, "You were only getting positive attention from everyone."

"Any sort of overwhelming attention, positive or negative annoys me," I mumble, laying back with my hands behind my head, "You know that."

"You're crazy, you know that right?" he says, sitting by my side with his arms crossed. I can't remember if he even had clothes on when we left the house. Doubt it, "Most people like it when others give them positive attention."

"I'm not most people, remember? I'm the girl who dresses and acts more like a guy. And most people wouldn't put up with you like I do," I say, smirking slightly at him. He grins back at me, and shoves me playfully.

Within the next week, everyone's used to Natsu and I and the idea of us being raised by dragons. Some people don't believe it, but don't pester either of us about it. Ends up I get along really well with Natsu, despite his and Gray's constant bickering. The two of us practice our dragon slayer magic out on each other when we can, but most of the time I'm still hanging out with Cana and Gray. Erza and Mira take me a bit more seriously, Mira seeing me as a small bug who needs squashing while Erza looks at me more like an equal now.

... ... ...

_ What I didn't know at that time was I doomed myself in the future by revealing my true identity. But still, I don't regret it even now. I didn't have to lie to my new family, Fairy Tail, anymore. And most importantly, I wasn't lying to the two people I hold dearest to my heart._


	8. And So They Grow Up

_4 Years Later (Note: Kayla is 14 and Gray and Cana are 15)_

**Kayla's POV**

"This happens every morning, why don't you just go to sleep earlier?" Gray asks me annoyed. I was half-asleep on his back as he carries me to the guild hall. This has become a nearly daily occurrence since he gets me up way too earlier each morning.

"You're strong enough to deal," I say, yawning, "Plus I'm awake late at night talking to you. Plus your snoring is so loud it's hard to sleep even after you fall asleep. Sometimes I regret being your roommate."

He knows I'm kidding, and laughs a little. When we walk in the door, Macao calls out to us, "You tired again this morning, Kayla?" I nod tiredly and drop down when Cana comes over.

She gives me a disapproving look, crossing her arms, "Have I taught you nothing? What are you wearing?" she says. Getting dressed this morning, I knew that Cana wouldn't be happy. Fitted blue jeans, a button up dark blue shirt and a brown jacket is my usual outfit, but it doesn't fly by her. She's always saying I don't dress feminine enough for a girl my age.

"I don't see the problem. I'm wearing stuff you helped me buy," I say, sitting down at a table.

Gray walks off and Cana sits across from me. She's now wearing dresses and skirts anymore, but the way she dresses is still provocative and feminine, "Yes, but each of those pieces is to a different outfit. At least take your hair down. Or wear something green to bring out your eyes."

"You love to be hard on me," I say, laughing, "Now can we stop focusing on my clothes?"

"GRAY, PUT ON SOME CLOTHES YOU PERVERT!" Natsu's voice carries through Fairy Tail as he yells.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME, FLAME-BRAIN?!

"I SAID PUT ON SOME CLOTHES, REJECTED SNOWMAN!"

"YOU WANNA GO, TOASTER OVAN?!"

"BRING IT, POPSICLE!"

The two boys get into one of their regular brawls, and through the usual chain of events the whole guild somehow gets involved. Cana and I stay at the counter, eating breakfast, "Damn those two. If I can get along just fine with both of them, as a dragon slayer and an ice mage, why can't they get along with each other?"

"What's up with you?" Cana asks, resting her arms back on the counter, "You usually don't care when those two idiots fight."

"Ya, you're right," I say, sighing, "I don't really care, but right now I need to get to the other side of the room to look for jobs and I don't feel like getting involved with the fight right now."

Cana rolls her eyes, "Then go upstairs Miss S-Class."

"I don't want to go on an S-Class job," I say, scrunching up my nose, "Just because I passed the exam last month doesn't mean I _always _want to go on S-Class jobs. Also, I want to go on a job with you and Gray. It's more fun that way. Maybe Natsu too just to see what happens," I say, laughing a little just at the idea of it.

That was definitely an exciting day for me. It was the second time I was chosen for the S-Class Exam, but the first time I lost because of Laxus. To be honest I almost threw the competition to try and help Cana win, but she wouldn't appreciate it, and I couldn't let Erza down. This year's S-Class competition was a double win, with the chosen competitors making teams with each other in pairs. Erza and I teamed up, and ended up winning so now we're both S-Class wizards.

Another two minutes of the guild fighting, and Cana is on the edge of joining in. Mirajane comes over and taunts me to join in, "Come on snowflake, you too scared to join in?"

"No, but I'm just too tired to try," I say, and grin, standing up, "_Ice Make: Dragon Wings!_" Ice creeps over my back and out to both sides in the shape of small dragon wings. My maker magic is static, but the dragon slayer magic makes them move. I fly over the fighting mages and land at the request board, the ice on my back dissipating.

"Chicken!"

"Aw, come on!" Mira and Cana yell respectively. With a laugh I stick my tongue out at both of them from across the room. They both give me an odd look for some reason. I shrug and frown, feeling self conscious. The request board is filled more than usual. One for protecting some rich guy as he goes to the next town for 20,000 jewel. That sounds like some paranoid dude. Another for 50,000 jewel to help someone protect their mass of valuables during a tour of the stuff. If people want to steal your expensive stuff, don't show it off to the general public.

Oh, this one's perfect. A town needs someone to scare off a group of wizard crooks who are terrorizing the people and forcing them to give up all their belongings. For 300,000 jewel, it'll be easily split between the three of us. People like that also piss me off, so it's easy to carry out those jobs. Those who use magic to harm and hinder instead of help shouldn't be able to use magic at all. I check in with Master Makarov to see if I can take it and he wishes me luck.

"Found a suitable job for us?" Cana asks, coming up behind me.

"Ya," I say, pulling down the flyer and showing her, "This one should work fine. It's not too far away either."

She looks at the flyer and nods, then looks at me with that odd look again, "You're eyes have always been green right?" she asks.

I nod, confused and surprised, "Why?"

"Well... after you flew over here and looked back at us, they looked like kind of blue. Mira saw it too, but maybe we were just seeing things," she says, shrugging. That's definitely weird. Must've been why they gave me such an weird look.

A chair flies over our heads and hits the request board, and I turn around. Somehow Erza had both Gray and Natsu in a headlock, and Loke was trying to get the red head to stop and focus on him instead... by throwing chairs. That guy confuses me. He just joined the guild a week or so ago, and he smells really weird. I can't exactly grasp why.

It takes another piece of furniture nearly hits Cana that I blast it away with my ice, before I get impatient with all the unnecessary fighting.

"EVERYONE STOP FIGHTING OR I'LL FREZZE YOU _ALL_ OVER!" I yell, standing on top of a still standing table. All except Erza and Mira stop, staring at me. I grin and hop back down, "Thanks!"

"You're almost as scary as Mira and Erza sometimes," Happy says, flying over to me.

"Just remember to not make me mad," I say, laughing a little.

"Aye..." he agrees, landing on my shoulder.

Gray and Natsu start to get in another argument even though everyone else has stopped fighting. Idiots, "Come on Cana, let's go," I say, walking over to the two. She follows me and I grab Gray's wrist as we walk past, pulling him towards the door.

Happy goes over to Natsu who walks towards Lisanna with the absence of his fight buddy, "You didn't have to grab me, where are we going?" Gray asks. I give him the flyer and he nods, satisfied, "Cool. The amount of jewel is perfect to try and get that new place."

"You two are moving?" Cana asks.

I nod, putting my hands in my pockets, "Ya. That way we won't have to have our beds in the same room."

"Makes sense. Now put on some pants," Cana says, "Not that we care anymore, but we shouldn't go accept this job with you nude."

We stop by mine and Gray's place while he puts on his white coat and other clothes. While there, I take down my hair and put on Crysteel's hat to get my best friend partially off my case.

"You're hair is more wavy than I realized," Gray says, giving me a funny look while we walk to the train station, "A bit like Cana's, but not as much."

He's just now realizing this? "You really need to wear your hair down more often. Boys are already noticing you more," Cana says, smiling at me smugly.

Gray and I both look over at each other and frown. His face gets red and I can feel mine getting red too. I look away and up at the sky, trying to make my cheeks stop flushing, "Shut up, Cana. There's nothing wrong with me pointing out her hair."

"Whatever you two say," she says. Her face is placid, but I can see the smug look in her eyes. It seems to be her personal goal to make me feel embarrassed whenever she can. Since the day Gray and I arrived to Fairy Tail, I've tried to convince Cana that the two of us are just friends but she doesn't buy it. It's annoying.

I notice the train ride to our job is supposed to be fairly short when we take our seats. That's good because I get motion sick, "Hey pervert," I say, shoving Gray playfully who rolls his eyes, "I'm going to need to sleep to avoid the motion sickness, you cool with that?"

"Sure, I'm used to it," he says, sitting in his seat. I sit next to him, and Cana sits across from us.

I rest my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes. Since two years ago I suddenly got serious motion sickness whenever in a moving vehicle. We came up with a routine of me sleeping whenever traveling. It only takes me a few minutes before I fall asleep, it not being that hard since I only slept for two hours last night.

"Dragon freak."

Someone's shaking my shoulder and I groan tiredly, opening my eyes. I blink a few times from surprise. I'm looking up at Gray who looks embarrassed. Cana's chuckling to the side of me. How'd I and up in Gray's lap?

"Um, okay. I guess we're here, let's go," I say quickly, out of the train in less than a second. Gray appears behind me in his underwear, and Cana's giving me that stupidly annoying smug 'you like him' look, "Soooooo where to? I think City Hall's this way."

"Cool," Gray says, walking beside me.

To try and get passed the moment, I put my arm around Gray's shoulder and grin, "Everyone in this town is going to think you're a pervert."

"Crap!" he says, spazzing, "I didn't notice."

"You never do," Cana says. We laugh and arrive at the City Hall, "Let's go find out what's going on in this town."

Cana does the talking with the mayor while Gray and I mess around outside, throwing 'ice balls' which are snowballs we make with our magic at each other. I accidentally hit Cana when she walks back outside who let's it past and tells us about the job instead.

Getting into the specifics, there's a crime boss named Yuki who uses Take-Over magic and he gathered together two dozen other wizards. From the looks of it, I think we're dealing with what will turn out to be another minor Dark Guild if we don't disband them now. Once they're officially a dark guild, there's nothing we can do to try and stop them unless there's a direct attack.

"So where are they?" I ask, getting more serious about the situation.

"The mayor says that they've camped outside the city in a fortified camp," she says. Nodding, we all head towards the edge of town, "Which strategy do we use?"

Gray has his clothes back on, and shoves his hands in his pockets, "I vote just charge in and beat the crap out of them."

"That's what you always want to do," I say, laughing a little. Once we're outside the village, I sniff the air, "I found them. There's a smell of fire and magic that way... and blood. Crap!"

I take off running, and I hear the gasp of surprise from Cana. The sounds of their footsteps sound clearly behind me as we run. All my heightened senses are taking in everything around me as I try to figure out what's going on. The sound of a scream fill the air, loud enough that I'm sure the other two can hear it too.

This is more than just some second rate wizards wanting to mess with a few people. A small hill comes into view and I stop the others before they get into view, "We need to see what we're getting into first," I say, hushed. Cana on my right and Gray on my left, we kneel down near the top of the hill and just barely look down.

"What the hell..." Gray whispers. Down the hill is a camp with some wizards gathered in a circle. In the middle is one man, holding up an injured woman by her hair, "Is this some sort of sick ritual?" he says, his voice more harsh and angered.

My body starts to shake in anger, and Cana glares down into the camp as well. Their heart rates are speeding up, and mine is too. The woman screams again as the wizards restraining her throws her to the ground, "That's it!"

Usually Gray is the impulsive one, but I'm not going to just sit here and watch when I can be doing something. The sound of my footsteps as I sprint sound like thunder in my ears, and it takes my partners a few moments to follow. "_Roar of the Ice Dragon!_"

**Editor's Note: Yay! They're finally teenagers! Lol, I've been waiting eagerly to get to this section of the story. :) Thanks for reading, and tell me what you guys think! :D**


	9. And So The Ice Fairy is a Target

**Kayla's POV**

"_Roar of the Ice Dragon!_"

"_Ice Make: Cannon!_"

"_Icicle!_"

Our practiced three way ranged attack takes out half a dozen of them right away. Probably not for good, but long enough for us to focus on the real problem at hand.

The guy in the middle catches my attention. A long black cloak shrouds his figure, almost completely hiding his dark and slanted eyes. That and his extremely pale skin give a look of sinister darkness. The lack of surprise in his posture, expression and heart rate makes me wonder if he somehow knew we were coming. The woman he was injuring earlier is unconscious on the ground, but the man doesn't seem interested in her anymore.

I notice all of this in less than five seconds. Taking account of what's going on as quick as I can in battle is something I learn to develop quickly if I ever want to be a truly powerful wizard, "Gray, Cana! I got the creepy dude, can you guys handle the others?" I shout as we run the last few steps down the hill.

Gray smirks and Cana takes out three cards, "We got this," they say together. Splitting up, I can hear the two of their attacks. Ice magic starts to swirl around me. I kick one guy and punch another who is in my way, both flying in opposite directions.

"Who are you?" I ask, glaring at the cloaked man, "Are you the leader?"

Now that I'm up closer to him, I can see that he's not that much older than me. He's probably only about 18 or 19. "Why, not at all. I am Kira, merely a follower of Yuki. Now you, Ice Fairy. You are the leader of this little trio, aren't you?"

The woman isn't moving, and her heart rate is nonexistent, "Not in the slightest. I'm the youngest of us," I say, and roll my eyes. I may be S-Class but I'm not a leader, "And you are no follower, I can see that in your eyes alone. Now tell me, why did you kill that woman?" I ask, hatred filling my voice

Kira remains unwavering, just looking at me with the same look, "We were right about you," he says, an evil glint in his eyes. What the hell is that supposed to mean? "And that woman, she's just a shade of mine," he says. With a wave of his hand the woman wisps away in a shadow. Damn, she was a trick to lure us out here without a plan.

"Kayla! Look out!" Gray shouts behind me. I turn around to find black shadowy blades about to hit me. This guy is way too good at distracting and tricking me. My hand raises almost instinctively, blocking the attacks with a quick wave of ice. The shadows rip up the edges of my jacket so I tear the rest of it off. My hand stings and I notice blood running down my arm. I wasn't quick enough, it still cut my hand.

Turning around again, Kira still hasn't moved. What the hell? "_Snow Fist of the Ice Dragon!_" I yell, running at him. My fist runs right through him, followed by the rest of me. The image disappears into a shadow. That must have also been a shade. It was another trick, so where is he really?

Around me, all the other mages are unconscious on the ground. Those two are quick. Cana and Gray run over, "That was easier than expected," Cana says, putting cards back in her bag, "Where'd that guy go?

"What happened to your hand?" Gray asks, sounding alarmed. I don't answer and take off my shirt, tearing a strip off to bandage my hand quickly, "Uh... why'd you take off your shirt?" he asks, his face red.

"What's wrong Gray? Like what you see?" Cana says, putting an arm around my shoulders and smirking.

I roll my eyes and push Cana off of me. I'm wearing a tank top, it's not a big deal, "Oh shut up you two. I'm one of Ur's students, it's expected for us to strip anyways," I say, smiling a little then shake my head, "Wait, focus. That guy's still here. His scent is still fresh enough to be somewhere around here."

"What? Where is he?" Gray says, still a little red from Cana's teasing. If I weren't so worried about this Kira guy, I'd be pretty red myself.

Cana takes some cards back out, holding them close, "That guy must be some kind of shadow mage," she says, "Light flash cards would work best. You two make ice to reflect it onto him if he moves."

"Let's split up, we'll find him faster that way," Gray adds, nodding. The three of us walk cautiously around the camp, trying to find him. His scent feels like it's almost right next to me, but there's nothing there. I also have a feeling like someone is following me.

"Where is he?" I mumble, narrowing my eyes. From what I can tell he controls shades, darkness, shadows... my shadow. My shadow's on the wrong side of my body from where the sun is positioned, "_Ice Make: Spear!_"

A shaft of ice grazes my shadow. It would've hit dead center but the shadow moved, and I didn't.

"You're a very clever girl," Kira says, coming out of the ground from the shadow. My regular shadow appears once he's back in his regular form. Cana and Gray's footsteps are heading my way. The must've heard me yell, "It's almost comical how predictable you are. I knew you'd take this job, and I needed you to come so I can see just how powerful you really are."

Why the hell does he care how powerful I am? "Stop talking and fight me head-on, unless you're scared," I say, glaring, "_Scales of the Ice Dragon!_"

My attack doesn't hit, deflected by his shades, "You can't hit me girl. Now, come into my nightmare. _Dream of Shadows._"

There's no time to move before I'm surrounded by darkness, having a feeling of claustrophobia. Light in the corner of my eye catches my attention, and I run towards it. When what's in the light is in view I almost fall over. It's Gray, bleeding out and pale.

Dead.

I start to hyperventilate and run over to his side, kneeling beside him. Wait, this isn't real. That's not Gray. There's not that familiar smell of pine needles and weird underpants detergent we use at home. It doesn't smell like him at all. I'm so glad I have a dragon's sense of smell, or I'd be freaking out right now. What's going on?

Fake Gray disappears and the light is gone. Invisible walls press against me, and soon I'm in a confined pitch black area. Seems like hours I'm sitting here, and I'm panicking. How did I get here? Why am I feeling so scared in just a dark small space?

That's what it's trying to do! Provoke fear, _make _me panic and be afraid so that I can't think or fight properly. He used some magic called Dream of Shadows, this must be what that is. Just a dream. First the image of Gray's dead body, and now this. It's provoking fear within me. I've never heard of this magic.

Grasping the concept doesn't help anything. My panicking gets worse, and I start to hyperventilate for real now. Wait. My magic, why haven't I tried? "DAMN ALL THESE TRICKS!" I nearly scream in anger. They're messing with my head. I'm pissed now. I summon as much ice as I can, swirling it around me. Magic surrounds me and lights up the area, then cuts through the shadows like they're just sheets of cloth.

"Tell us what the hell you're doing to her!" Cana demands.

I open my eyes, gasping, and find myself on the ground. Gray looks angry, standing over me in a protective way. Cana is off to the side, holding one of her cards. How long was I out? It couldn't have been the hours it felt like.

"_Summoned Lightning!_"

"_Ice Make: Lance!_" Gray yells. The lightning reflects off of the many ice lances, surrounding Kira. I'm about to whoop in victory until I see the lightning disappear in the shadows he summons around him, "What the hell? That should've at least hit him."

This is no second class wizard, he's powerful. Realizing I'm still on the ground and they don't know I'm awake again, I get to my feet quickly, "How long was I out?"

"Oh thank Ur you're alright," Gray says, sounding gruff and relieved, "Only about three minutes, but you were shaking and shadows were flickering around your face."

Cana glances over at me, "What was going on?"

"Not now. Let's just beat this guy up, and beat him good."

For the first time, Kira's expression changes; into one of amusement, "Look at you. You're all children, and you think you can defeat me. Well if you're going to keep trying, then I might as well fight back. _Shadow Blast: Nightmare._"

Shadows surround us like claws grasping it's prey.

And we are the prey.

Cana's cry of pain is louder than mine as we get thrown backwards. I land by Gray, both of us groaning and getting up, "This guy is starting to piss me off," Gray says, summoning ice to his fists. Cana is standing only a few feet from us. I can use my secret art of the ice maker dragon slayer. That might actually hit Kira.

"_Nightmare Shades,_" he says calmly, just raising his hand to summon the magic circle. Shadow creatures of animals appear and run at us, making a ghoulish sound.

"_Ice Make: Death Scythe!_" Gray and I both summon in unison.

"_Flaming Cards!_"

The flame attack dazes the shades while Gray and I slice through them easily with our ice blades, "You're good little fairies. And the dragon slayer is just as good as my sources told me," Kira says, and for the first time real emotion and intensity enters his eyes, "_Shadow Blast: Death!_"

A laser of shadow magic bolts toward me at an alarming rate, "_Ice Make: Shield!_" I summon to block the attack. But it doesn't hit my shield, it hits Gray who jumped in front of the attack. He falls to his knees, clutching his chest in pain, "Gray!"

The panic comes back from before, only worse.

"_Ice Make: Wings!_" I shout, flying into the air. Cana looks up at me, our eyes meet and both of us know exactly what to do, "_Ice Make: Weapons!_" A dozen axes and swords appear around me, pointed upwards.

Cana takes out her three cards, Lightning, Reverse Tower, and Lovers, "_Jolt of Fate!_"

The three card combo magic seal shoots out masses of lightning towards Kira, "_Secret Art of the Ice Maker Dragon Slayer: Blizzard of a Dozen Blades!_"

"UNISON RAID!" We both shout, my blizzard full of lightning as it hurtles towards Kira. I make the ice wings dissipate, as to not waste my magic energy and Cana and I both kneel down next to Gray, who's still clutching himself, "Are you alright?" I ask worriedly.

The other brunette shakes him a little, "Say something, stripper."

He groans, shaking his head, "I'm fine, just feel more pissed off than ever," he says. Usually I can tell when he's lying, and it doesn't seem like it so I laugh a little. He gets angry about everything.

The dust cloud from mine and Cana's attack fades while I help Gray stand, him putting an arm around my shoulders to support himself. Kira's still standing there. Unharmed.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Your attacks are weak. Well, it looks like we're out of time fairies. I have things to attend to. And you Ice Fairy, you're drawing too much attention to yourself. Events have been set in motion, and there's nothing you can do about it. I should know," Kira says, smirking, "I would have fun with my friends while you still can. Goodbye."

His whole body turns into a shadow, going into the ground and rocketing away as I run towards him, "What do you mean?! Tell me what that meant! TELL ME!" I shout after him, my body shaking a little. I can't tell if it's from panic or rage. Was this whole thing planned around me?

It wasn't us who was his prey. It was me.


	10. And So The Ice Mages Play

**Gray's POV**

After rounding up the sorry excuses for mages, we all bring them to the local jail. Kayla hasn't said anything since that weird Kira guy ran off like a coward. Even when she helped bandage my chest from the shadow blast attack, she seems to be deep in thought.

"There was one guy we didn't get, who escaped," Cana says, talking to the town mayor. I lean back against the wall and let her talk, Kayla beside me with her arms crossed. My white coat drapes her shoulders since all her clothes except her pants and tank top were ripped during the fighting.

The conversation between Cana and the mayor continues but I don't pay attention anymore. She does most of the talking since Kayla somehow manages to feel awkward around new people despite her confidence with pretty much everything else, and both of them think that I'm too blunt and well, nude.

My eyes rest on the makeshift bandage on Kayla's hand, and I remember her wound from earlier. The cloth is bloodied and sloppily put on, "You alright?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at her, "Want to actually treat your hand?"

She looks up at me, surprised and nods a little, "I think there are bandages in the bathroom," she says, oddly distant.

"We'll be out front," I tell Cana before we leave, "Come on shorty."

Kayla gives me an annoyed smile, following, "I'm like, two inches shorter. You have no room to call me shorty," she says hushed, shoving me playfully. I have to admit, Kayla's pretty adorable when she's shy and quiet like this.

I find some fresh bandages in a cabinet once we're in the bathroom. Taking Kayla's hand, I unwrap the bloodied cloth carefully and throw it into the trash. From the look on her face, I can tell that she's thinking about something else again, barely paying any attention to me. About to wrap her hand up again in the bandage, I notice a weird black line in the middle of the wound.

"Hey, what's this?" I ask, flicking her forehead so she pays attention to me. She blinks at me then looks down, frowning slightly.

"There was a line similar to that on your chest when I bandaged you up. I just thought it was darkened blood." she says, still quiet. What's going on with her?

"Well you're not exactly thinking straight right now," I say, raising an eyebrow at her.

Deciding to not worry about it right now is my best bet. As I bandage her hand, I can feel it shaking in mine. Paying a little more attention, I notice that her whole body is shaking ever so slightly.

"You were being an idiot earlier, jumping in front of the shadow laser aimed at me. I can protect myself," she says suddenly, her voice no longer quiet, but worried and a little angry, "I cast an ice shield."

My fist clenches a little and I scowl, leaning against the door, "I took the attack for you because I wasn't sure what kind of shape you were in after that weird attack he used on you earlier, not because I thought you couldn't handle yourself. What was happening anyways?"

"Well I don't want you getting hurt because of me!" she nearly shouts, then turns towards the wall, looking frustrated. At least she seems to be more like herself again, "It was just, some kind of weird induced nightmare. He was trying to get me to panic or be afraid, so I wouldn't be able to fight him."

I ignore the first part and cross my arms, "How'd you wake up then?"

"Just used my magic, it's no big deal really. I'm fine now let's go," she says, trying to walk past me to get out. I grab her hand to stop her and she looks back at me sort of frustrated. The shaking in her body still hasn't left.

Right now, I have an idea to cheer her up. I keep holding onto her hand and pull her outside. A blush makes her cheeks get all rosy, and I can tell Kayla's paying attention to what's going on around her now instead of what's in her head. I drop her hand, coughing awkwardly and turn my face before she can see it's kind of red too.

Why does she make me feel so damn awkward when we're alone?

"Thanks for bandaging my hand," she says, sighing and leaning back against the wall with a smile. Her voice is less quiet and more normal now.

"No problem. And by the way, you need to chill out," I say with a smirk, throwing an iceball at her. Kayla's laugh makes me stop worrying, "Whatever you're thinking about isn't that big of a deal. I'm sure that Kira guy is just some freak."

"You're on, ice boy!" she says, summoning five iceballs and fires them all at once. I grin and we run around throwing ice at each other for a while like we did before the weird encounter with Kira. I manage to get one right above her nose, making her cross her eyes to look at it and we both laugh, me smirking.

"You look ridiculous," I say, and throw another which she dodges this time.

Cana comes out just then and gives us each a look, "You two have the weirdest way of flirting."

"We're not flirting," I say scowling, and Kayla sticks her tongue out. Cana smirks and rolls her eyes, handing us each our portion of the reward.

I put my hands in my pockets and follow a few feet behind the girls while we walk back to the train. Why am I always going on jobs with girls again? I guess I can't stand any of the other guys. It used to be cool before Cana managed to get Kay into having 'girl talk.'

"Hey hotties."

Some guy walks over to Cana and Kayla, making me frown. Right away Cana gets a flirtatious smug look on her face, and Kayla looks slightly annoyed and raises an eyebrow questioningly, "It should be a crime that you two are all by yourselves without a man." he says, giving them a flirtatious smile. I walk over, feeling annoyed with this guy. We're going to miss our train at this rate.

"You're a cheesy flirt," Cana says, loosing interest.

"Then I'll just focus on the girl with the pretty green eyes," flirty guy says grinning.

Kayla's about to say something when I pick her up and set her down behind me, "Hey, we're a bunch of powerful mages trying to get back to our guild hall, so please let us go," I say.

The other guy gives me a look and Kayla facepalms next to me, "You're in your underwear stupid," she says grinning, trying to hide a laugh.

"Are all mages this weird?" the other guy asks, giving me a look and walks away. I shrug and walk towards the train station.

"Next time don't tell girls that they need a guy with them, it's insulting," Kayla calls after the guy walking away, smirking slightly, "I can whip almost any guy's ass if I want to, don't need one around."

Sure got that right.

... ... ...

The train ride back is uneventful and boring. Kayla sits across from Cana and I, not sleeping but distracting herself enough to not get motion sick. I stare out the window and think about everything that just happened and what it might mean. From the way she's distracting herself, I can tell that Kayla's thinking about it too. Every time she over thinks about something, it ends up freaking her out.

Maybe we should do something fun tonight, to get her mind off of everything.

"See you later, Cana," Kayla says as we part our separate ways at the train station. Normally we would all go back to the guild hall, but Kay says she wants to go back home. Only reason I'm going with her is because she was acting all weird earlier.

Once we're inside our apartment, she tosses my coat on my bed and plops down on her bed on the other side of the room, "Thanks for lending me your jacket," she says, grabbing a book. I shrug, and go to the fridge to grab a snack.

While I make different ice sculptures on the floor in a fit of boredom, Kayla's laying on her stomach reading some book. I would take her book and stop her but she'll probably just lock herself in the bathroom and read there instead.

"We have enough money to start renting that apartment with two bedrooms, cause this is starting to get pretty cramped," I say, trying to get her in conversation.

"And awkward," she mumbles, looking over at me, "Ya, we're not as small as we used to be. I talked to the landlady of the apartment and she said it'll be available in a month."

"Cool," I say, leaning back against my bed, "You know, this is the perfect time for you to move into Fairy Hills if you want to. There's no reason we still have to be roommates."

She looks over at me with a questioning look, "You really think I want to live in the same building with a bunch of giggling gossiping girls from the guild? At least with you I can be myself without being judged. Unless.. unless you mean you want me to leave," she says, frowning a little.

I frown a little. Does she feel like she can't be herself with other people in the guild? It's true she's a little different and maybe more like a 'girl' when she's around others, not including Cana and maybe Natsu, annoyingly. They're both dragon slayers, I guess it makes sense. Even though he's a total flame brain.

"No of course not, I'm completely fine with us still being roommates. And what about Cana?"

"Well, that's where I almost decide to go to Fairy Hills until I think of how in charge she would be of my wardrobe," she says, laughing, "Plus I'm too used to our stupid routine every morning."

We laugh for a few moments. It's true I guess when you're long and close friends with someone, you develop a sort of sibling like relationship. Maybe I'm not happy with it just being like that though. I kind of like her more than that. Maybe.

Sure, her chest is small and all, but Kayla's pretty attractive. When she smiles it makes me remember the weird girl who would wrestle with me when we were little. That funny scowl or pout she makes reminds me of the stubborn six year old who convinced me not to listen to my mom.

"Uh, Gray? Why are you staring at me?" Kayla asks, her face red. I blink a few times, realizing I was in a daze and scowl. Shit, I was staring at her without realizing it. There's no reason I should be thinking about this.

"Sorry, just thinking about stuff," I say shrugging, and scowl at the ground. In the corner of my eye I see her look confused, and turn back to her book.

I guess I should ask about how she's feeling in the Kira aspect of stuff that's happened today, but her reading means she doesn't really want to talk. Learning all these things about her came the hard way. Kayla may not be a typical girl but she's a dragon slayer which pretty much makes up for that.

Still find it weird that for the first four years that we knew each other, she was living with a dragon. It's understandable why Cana and I didn't know about it at first, but it makes me wonder if we would've ever found out if Natsu never came along. Maybe eventually, but not as soon as we did.

Thinking about this stuff just bums me out a bit. I make a small figurine of what I imagine a dragon to look like in my hand and crush it when Kayla's voice startles me.

"Have you ever thought about where Lyon is and what he might be doing?" she says quietly, looking up from her book and staring at the wall. What's making her think of all this stuff all of a sudden?

"Uh, maybe sometimes. Guess so. That guy's such a little twerp though so I see no reason to," I say, relaxing back on the side of my bed.

Kayla looks over at me, half smiling, "Well of course that's what you think. Last time you saw him he was accusing you of killing Ur, which wasn't your fault," she says the last part sternly and I frown. Sometimes it seems like she knows me too well, "Not to mention you're thinking of him at the age of eight. Lyon in my mind when I think of him now is fifteen, just like you. How he is now."

Everything she says brings up a lot of uncomfortable subjects. I still haven't told her about how Ur isn't really dead, her body was just transformed into the ice. Feeling guilty I stare at the ground. Not to mention I never got along super well with Lyon.

"Never thought too much about Lyon, no. At least not like that. Don't really like him enough to," I say, putting my hands behind my head.

Her smile gets a little amused and tired looking, "You're in your boxers stupid. I don't even know how you managed that in that position," she sighs, sitting up and crosses her legs with her hands resting behind her.

"Eh," I shrug, smirking slightly. If there's going to be a time to tell her about Ur, I guess it's now. If she's mad at me for not telling her earlier, I'll just defend myself by reminding her she kept a secret from me for four years about Crysteel and the fact she knew magic long before I learned it.

She looks at me smiling for a few moments before I say anything, "You know... about Ur, there's something I never told you..."

"I know idiot," she says, rolling her eyes with a small smile, "I did some research on Iced Shell myself. And I understand why you didn't tell me."

Surprised, I nod and look up at the ceiling. After a few minutes I realize that Kayla has gone back to reading, so I get up to look for some food to make for dinner. In the fridge there's only some jam and juice. I look in the cabinets but find only a half empty box of cereal.

"Kay, we're out of food!" I yell from the kitchen. Maybe now I have an excuse to force her out of the house and stop focusing on stuff in her head, "Wanna go to a restaurant for dinner tonight?"

"Sure! Just let me get dressed real quick!" she calls back. Getting dressed and slipping on my red hoodie, I wait outside. Kayla runs out in her blue jacket, and smiles at me, "Where do you want to go? Eat at the guild?

"Nah, we'll run into Natsu that way," I say, getting an idea, "How about we just go to that cafe down the street?"

"Okay," she says, putting her hands in her jacket pockets.

Kayla starts ahead of me and kicks at random rocks as we walk. I hurry up next to her and she smiles at me, "You're being quiet today."

"You're one to talk," I say, rolling my eyes, "What's up with your thinking and not sharing what you're obviously worried about?."

A waitress comes up to us and we sit at an outside cafe table, "Well, I was just obsessing over how I might know Kira, why he'd say what he did and any real enemies I could've made, and when there was nothing that came to mind I decided to just try and ignore it," she says a little quieter, staring down at the menu. Obviously she's not completely over it but at least she told me.

Both of us order a hamburger which I finish in half a minute. Kayla smirks at me knowingly from across the table, only haven taken two bites of hers. I shrug and lean back in my chair.

We talk about boring stuff for a while before Cana walks past us, and smirks at Kayla who sighs, "Hey Cana, what are you doing in town?"

"Oh, just spying on people. Going back to Fairy Hills," she says, giving Kayla some look I don't understand. She doesn't seem to get it either.

"Uh, cool," Kayla says, laughing a little.

"Well, anyways I'll leave you two be. Bye," Cana says, and walks away. Well she just came and left quickly.

"I'm going to go pay real quick," Kayla says, messing with my hair as she walks past.

"Alright," I say, scowling at her slightly. Her laughs make me smile again, and I pick up her jacket that she'd left on her chair.

When she comes back out of the cafe, I toss the jacket over her head. She laughs again and throws an iceball at me as I run back to our place. Iceballs continue to fly at me as I run into our place. With a smirk I ambush Kayla with a flurry of snowy ice as she comes in.

"Jerk!" she says with a laugh and closes the door.

The rest of the evening she reads and I find random stuff to do.

**Editor's Noter: Sorry this chapter took a bit longer, I find it harder to write in Gray's POV and it took me a lot of re-writing to get it to a point that I liked it. Still totally not satisfied but I finished it, so tell me what you guys think. :) Thanks for reading!**


	11. And So Cana Plays Matchmaker

**Cana's POV**

"Looks like the lovebirds have arrived," Macao says.

I look over to the door to see Gray and Kayla walk in. Kayla's actually wearing something nice today. A short brown skirt with navy tights, her knee high brown boots and navy button down shirt. Looks like I don't need to get on her case today. Her hair is even down with that cute white hat. Gray's just wearing pants, but that's not a surprise.

"Talk to you later," I say to Macao and Wakaba, walking over to the two ice mages. Kayla looks like she's about to explode into an ice bomb, being so energetic and Gray looks bored, "What's going on with you two? Such opposite energies this morning."

"Gray has been complaining that I don't sleep enough so I went to bed earlier, that's why I'm not tired. Not sure what's up with him," Kayla says. Makes sense, never seen her so awake in the morning before, "Can you go get us some food?" she asks Gray.

If I were to ever ask him to get us all some food, he'd probably freeze me in place for the day, but he shrugs and walks over to the counter like Kayla asked.

"Wow Kay, you've really got him doing whatever you want," I say, grabbing her arm and leading her to our table.

She shrugs and sits down, "He always gets us both breakfast. Usually it's because I'm too tired but, eh."

How can she not realize these things, "So, how are things between you two? Your guys' relationship getting along well?"

"In what world are we in a relationship?" she says, laughing like it's a ridiculous idea, "We're just close friends."

"Who live together," I point out.

"We're teenagers," she says, sounding annoyed by what I'm implying, "A girl and a guy can be roommates and not let it be weird."

"And why do you two live together?" I ask, "You could be living at Fairy Hills like me and most of other girls. There has to be a reason."

Her eyes narrow a little as she thinks about it, seeming to not have a reason right away, "Well... I'm not sure. I guess neither of us are really that comfortable living alone, almost always having someone else in our lives. We've known each other for so long that we're comfortable living together. It's fun."

Well that's a deeper answer than I thought I'd get, "Sounds to me like you're both filling a hole in each other's lives where there used to be love. For him you're filling the hole of his parents and Ur, and he's filling where Crysteel was in your heart. You know, I'm just guessing."

Her surprise makes me realize that this never occurred to either of them, "Ya, I guess so," she says biting her lip, and she frowns again, "Wait, you said love. We're not in love Cana!"

I roll my eyes, and smirk, nudging her shoulder, "If you're not together, then what was that yesterday?"

"We went out to dinner, like we do every couple days. You come with us half the time, you should know," she says with a shrug, freezing and unfreezing a napkin over and over, "Gray can't cook, I don't like to, and last night we were out of food."

As Gray and Kayla's closest friend other than each other, I know with certainty that those two are together. Whether they know it themselves or not, "More evidence that you two are together. The guild is making bets as to when you two are going to make out in front of everyone. Macao just bet 10,000 jewel it'll be this weekend at the Fairy Dance," I say. Personally, I think they're going to finally give in today.

"Oh ya, the Fairy Dance is this weekend, isn't it," she says thoughtfully, freezing the napkin again, "And for the last time, we're not together.

What will it take to get this girl to admit her feelings. It's infuriating at times, "Your outfit is cute today," I say, "haven't seen you in a skirt in over a year."

Kayla sighs but smiles a little, "Ya well It's what I found this morning and I wanted you off my case for once."

"You know I only tease you about your clothes because you're like my little sister."

"I know that, you can still lay off sometimes," she says smiling a little.

"It's hard when I want Gray to notice you a bit more," I say, smirking.

Head banging against the table, I hear Kayla groan, "Stooooppp. A girl and a boy can't be just close friends?"

"Nope. I'm still not convinced you two aren't doing it back at your house when no one else is around," I say with a smirk, nudging her again.

"Doing what?" she asks, looking confused. Wow. This girl is way more naive and innocent than I thought. Maybe it comes from being raised by a dragon instead of a human mother.

Holding in a laugh, I don't even try this time and just pat her shoulder instead, "Anyways... You're telling me you don't even have the smallest of feelings for Gray. Other than just him being your friend."

Kayla sits back up, looking over at the little stripper in question who managed to get in a fight with Elfman while getting food, "Now that's an actual question instead of assuming we're romantically involved. He's my longest and closest friend," she says softly, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't have feelings for him. But that doesn't mean we're in love or we're together," she says, rolling her eyes.

"Wait, if he's your closest friend, what am I?" I ask, frowning.

"My best friend," she confirms, grinning. Okay, that makes sense.

"Well awesome. And that's the first time you've admitted to having romantic feelings for him since we were twelve."

"Well when I was twelve it was more of just a small crush."

"The Ice Fairy admits to liking our little stripper," I say in a sing song voice, grinning.

"Shut uppppp," she groans, and laughs a little, "That nickname bugs me. You know that. It's lame compared to everyone else's."

And there she goes again, diverting the conversation away from Gray, "It actually represents you more than you think. We've got the six S-Class wizards right?" I say, and she nods, leaning back in her seat, "Three girls and three boys. We've got Mystogan who's a mystery, Laxus the ass."

"You've got that right," she mumbles, smirking a little.

Those two have been at it for years, ever since Kayla first got here. Sure he can be a jerk sometimes, but he's worse to Kayla. It's hard to make her dislike you, but he managed it somehow, "Right, and er- Gildarts."

She gives me a small smile. I told her about what Gildarts is to me a year and a half ago. Gray still doesn't know, and I'm keeping it that way, "None of them have cool nicknames, because the girls are the real kick-ass mages in this guild. Erza is Titania the Fairy Queen, Mirajane the Demon, and you're the Ice Fairy. It shows how different you are from them. You're not bossy or scary and intimidating, you're simply a nice girl who happens to be a powerful freak raised by a dragon."

Kayla smiles a little and sets her chair back down normally, "I guess that makes more sense. I'd still rather it be Ice Dragon or something else similar. Natus's all cool with his Salamander nickname," she pauses, thinking about something, "Wait, where'd all these nicknames even come from?" she says, laughing a little.

I laugh as well and shrug, "Who knows. Most of them are pretty funny though."

"Ya," Kayla says, laughing some more. Both of us look at the boys who have started another fight. It's always weird when Natsu and Gray fight, because the air feels both too warm and too cold. I don't think Kayla really notices.

"So, you know what's coming up, right?" I say, ignoring the guys now. The ice mage looks over to me, thinking.

"Um, my birthday? That's in two weeks," she says, shrugging.

Her mind is obviously wandering right now, "No ice brain. Wait, well yes but that's not what I meant. The Fairy Dance! We talked about this just five minutes ago."

"Oh ya," Kayla says, not seeming that interested.

"I have an idea. You just said that you like Gray as more than just friends. So why don't you two go the dance together. You teased him about it when we were younger, so why not mean it for real this time" I say. That way these two can actually get somewhere with their relationship. They're the last ones to know about it. If I can just get those two in a romantic setting, I might be able to... force things along a little.

Kayla's cheeks get a little rosy and she tosses the frozen napkin on the ground, "No way am I going to ask him to the dance. I may like him a little, but he doesn't like me back," she says, biting her lip, "We're close enough for me to know that much for sure."

"Are you kidding me?" I inquire, raising an eyebrow, "That boy has it bad for you."

"Does not," she says unbelievingly, and rolls her eyes, "And I'm cool with that."

"When we were on our way back to the train after yesterday's job, why did he stop that guy from flirting with you?"

She frowns, "He knows that I get annoyed when people randomly flirt with me without really knowing me. Just like how I get annoyed when random people start being all 'Oh my god you're all mages you're so cool!' when they don't know us. Getting a lot of unwanted attention bugs me."

I facepalm, holding my head in my hands in frustration, "Oh my god Kayla. It's because he didn't want _another_ guy hitting on you. I'm super convinced now. You guys are going to the Fairy Dance together."

A thoughtful frown crosses her face and she stands up, "I don't want to be focusing on this right now. There's no reason we should risk our friendship by getting romantically involved. I guess if he asks me I'll go, but I'm not one of those girls who's going to obsess over some guy who isn't interested," she says quickly, and walks towards the door.

Maybe I pushed it too much. Can't tell if she's embarrassed, upset, or shy about her feelings right now. At that moment. Gray sits down next to me with half burnt food.

"Where'd Kayla run off to?" he asks annoyed, "I brought the food she asked for."

"Don't give me any crap stripper. Give me a yes or no answer; do you like Kayla?"

He shrugs, picking up Kayla's frozen napkin with confusion, "Ya. She's my best friend. Course I like her."

Both of them are so ignorant, "Oh come on Gray you know what I mean. I can come right out about it and say that I'm attracted to Hibiki from Blue Pegasus. Remember when we met him during a job a few months ago? Ya, I think he's hot. So why can't you and Kayla, when you've known each other for almost ten years not admit that you like each other?" I say exasperated. Sometimes playing matchmaker with your friends is exhausting.

Gray's face gets red and embarrassed, "I uh... What do you mean?"

"It's obvious to me that both of you like each other, so why won't you just be a guy and talk to her about it?" I say, standing up and giving him a knowing look.

Gray's face gets more red and he looks away stubbornly without a word.

"Tell me Gray, why won't you talk to her? And don't tell me it's because she doesn't like you back, I just got her to admit it to me."

"Kay's going to kill you if she finds out you told me," he says with a small smirk and stuffs his hands in his pockets, "Nah, it's because she gets all awkward when it comes to any sort of relationship that's more than friends, even just a little bit. And I didn't... know... that she er, liked me. Until now," Gray says a little more awkwardly,

At least he admits to it, "Well then ask her out to the Fairy Dance. It's about time you told her how you feel. I guarantee she'll say yes," I say, finally feeling like I'm getting somewhere.

"Leave it be Cana, I don't want to mess up our friendship so why should I do anything of the sort?" he mutters, "Plus you don't need a date or anything for the dance, it's more like a party."

He's acting funny all of a sudden, fidgeting like he can't stay still, "Still, it's nice to have at least someone to go with. And you two would have fun together, even if it wasn't technically a date or whatever," I say, not getting a reaction from him, "Just be honest to yourself, okay? Now I'm going to leave before Levi manages to get me to help out with preparations for the party, but I'll catch you later."

I walk away, Gray still giving no response and I sigh. Maybe just letting nature take it's course with those two would've been better, but I must say it's fun teasing them and watching them turn red.


	12. And So The Girls Have Fun

**Kayla's POV**

"Uh..." I hear Gray's voice behind me, "What are you doing?"

"Banging my head against a wall, what does it look like? I grumble, hitting my head against the wall again.

The sound of his laughter doesn't stop me, and neither does Natsu coming over, "Um, why?" Gray asks.

"I agreed with Cana that I'll stay over at her place for the rest of the week," I groan, "Which means I'll be at Fairy Hills. And all the others will be there. And Cana's going to take over my... everything."

Not to mention force me to talk about Gray. After our conversation yesterday, I haven't been able to talk to Gray without almost blushing. There's always been that side of me that has a crush on him, but I always ignored it. Until yesterday I could, and then Cana went and kept bringing it up, forcing me to think about it.

"Why the hell would you do that if you don't want to?" Natsu interjects, poking my head.

I turn around and sigh, leaning back against the wall, "No, I want to. In some aspects, but I regret doing this at the same time."

"Cool, now that we're over that, come on we're going on a job! You promised me you'd go on a job with me today!" Natsu says, starting to drag me towards the door.

"Hey, chill out man!" Gray shouts after us, grabbing my other arm.

I laugh a little as they have a quick tug of war over me before I freeze Natsu's hand and shake Gray's off.

"Sorry, Natsu. I forgot I told you we'd go on a job. I promised Lisanna, Erza and Levi that I'd help set up for the Fairy Dance," I say, shrugging. There's really not much to do yet, since the Fairy Dance isn't for another two days. It's mainly planning on what decorations there are going to be, where we're going to get food and a bunch of other boring stuff like that. Only agreed to help out because it's fun hanging out with those three girls, even if I'm not extremely close to them.

"That's not fair! You said you would take me on an S-Class job!" Natsu complains, crossing his arms.

"Aye!"

"Wait, you haven't taken Cana and I on an S-Class job yet, why would you take flame brain here?" Gray asks, confused.

"Maybe because I'm a more powerful wizard and she's tired of you," Natsu says with a grin.

Sitting down, I watch the two of them fight for a few minutes before they cool off and I shove them away from each other, "To be clear, I was thinking of all four of us, plus Happy, going on an S-Class job soon. Told Natsu about it before Cana reminded me about the Fairy Dance."

Gray looks at Natsu in an annoyed way and the latter looks pissed off, "No way am I going on a job with him!" they say together.

"I'm cool with that, we can't go this week anyway," I say, laughing a little, "Gramps still hasn't given me the okay that I can bring anyone else with me yet."

The only reason I thought of bringing Natsu with the three of us on an S-Class job, is because I'd really be awesome if my two best guy friends actually got along. Going on a job together will force them to work together, and even though they'll be fighting the whole time maybe just for a minute the two can agree on something. Any other reason would just mean I'm crazy for forcing those two together.

"Oh fine. Not sure if I wanna be there if the rejected snowman is going to, but I'll think about it," Natsu says.

"Natsu! Come help me with something!" Lisanna calls from the other end of the guild, and he tosses a fireball at Gray before leaving.

Happy lands on my head and sighs, "That's Natsu for you."

"Ya," I say, laughing a little. Ever since the first few days I've known Happy, he has the annoying habit of hanging out on my head.

"When were you going to tell me about planning on bringing Natsu on a job with us?" Gray asks, sitting on top of the table next to me.

I roll my eyes, "Since when do I need your permission to do something? Either way I was planning on talking to you two about it once there was actually time to go on another job."

"Don't want to go on any job with that pyro," he says, sounding annoyed.

"Natsu's not as bad as you think, Gray," Happy says, and I nod in agreement. Those two got off at a bad start only because Gray wasn't wearing any clothes. It does sort of pass off that he's kind of a pervert at first.

"Eh," he shrugs and gets up, not quite looking me in the eye "I'm going to go find something to do."

With a nod I watch him leave and sigh a little. He seems a little more irritated about everything in the past twenty four hours. I wonder what's up.

Levi calls me over and I help her plan out different food that we could have at the party/dance, Happy continuing to chill out on my head and give his input when he can. Which is basically just that we should serve 100s of different fish dishes.

"Isn't it exciting that we can finally go to the dance?" Levi asks, smiling cheerily.

Smiling a little I shrug, writing down a few notes, "I guess. Not that into stuff like this, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be coming just yet. I love helping get ready though, it's really fun."

"How can you not want to go? I'm coming even though I won't be going with anyone. Essentially the Fairy Dance is more like a party, no one needs a date" she says, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"No, that's not it. I don't have a date either, but I'm not that into those either way. Just not big on large parties I guess," I say.

The bluenette focuses for a moment on what she's writing, then turns back to me, "Oh. For some reason I had the impression you would be going with Gray," she says, sounding confused.

"You and Cana both," I mumble, sketching a dragon on my list of snacks, "We aren't an item Levi, I don't see why everyone thinks so."

"Maybe because you two are always together," she says, thinking about it thoughtfully in the way Levi thinks about everything, "More so than he is even with Cana."

"You liiiiiiiike him," Happy drawls, grinning at me.

I frown and pick the cat up, putting him on the table, "You're not allowed on my head if you are going to tease me like that. Now let's leave this subject be and get back to planning."

Levi laughs a little and nods, "Alright. Well there's the theme for the decorations, and Erza said she wants to help with that."

... ... ...

"This is pretty comfy," I say, sitting on Cana's bed and leaning back against the headboard. It's definitely comfier than mine. As expected she ignores me, looking at my clothes in a distasteful manner, "Tell me again why you asked me to being all of my clothes with me."

Cana picks up an old shirt of mine and gives me a 'Really?' kind of look, "You need a new wardrobe. But that's not why I made you bring it. I'm trying to find suitable clothes for you to wear at the Fairy Dance."

Last she knew, I wasn't going. Except there's no stopping Cana when she puts her mind to something.

"Hey, I heard the ice bug was here!"

Mirajane stands in the doorway, giving me a smug look. Mine and Cana's eyes meet, both of us rolling our eyes before looking back at the she demon. Mira's pretty awesome but she's always trying to get into a fight.

"Yep," I say, popping the p which gets me a small laugh from Cana, "I'll be here for the next few nights. Why?"

"Because it's been a while since we had a proper fight and you can't escape me right now by going home," she says with a smirk and puts her hands on her hips.

A girl with scarlet hair walks past the open door, and gets confused when she sees me, "Did Kayla move in? How come I wasn't notified?" Erza asks, walking in with a confused scowl and her arms crossed.

"This is my room, Erza," Cana says, standing up, "She's just staying here for a few nights."

I nod in agreement and hop off the bed, leaning against the bed post and putting my hands in my pockets, "Just hanging out."

"Hmm... Like a sleepover?" Erza says, and I nod, "Then we must have a slumber party!" she announces, "I'll inform the other girls."

Oh crap.

Before I can stop her, Erza runs off to get the other girls who live here. I love all of the girls in Fairy Tail, but this is particularly why I like living somewhere else. Too much going on instead of just hanging out with Gray, who's usually pretty chill.

"Erza's only doing this because I didn't invite her to the slumber party I had when we were little kids," Mira says, looking peeved off.

"What's all the noise about, Mira-nee?" Lisanna asks, walking in wearing her nightclothes.

The two sisters talk while I get some pajamas out of my bag and Cana and I change. Most people would try and ask the uninvited people to leave, but these are some of the top mages in a well renown wizard guild. You let them do what they want unless you want to make a big deal out of it.

Erza walks back in a few minutes later with Levi, Bisca, and Laki. I'm pretty sure Evergreen lives here too but I'm okay with her not being here. She's not exactly my biggest fan considering mine and Laxus' rocky relationship.

Bisca and the other two Erza dragged in look confused, and half dressed, "Time for the party to start!" Erza announces while requipping into her pink pajamas.

"This is my room, should ask me before throwing a party in here," Cana says with a sigh, "Still cool though, might be fun."

"Now that I know why I'm here, sounds fun," Bisca says, putting on a mid-cut tank top and smirks, "Us girls haven't gotten to do anything for a while, at least not without the boys around."

Lisanna giggles, "Sorry. I guess that Natsu and I hang out quite a lot."

Those two are really close. How come everyone's been focusing on Gray and I when there's also Lisanna and Natsu?

"Oh it's not just you two," Laki agrees, and everyone gives me a pointed look.

I groan, falling back on Cana's bed and put a pillow over my head.

"And there's no way I'm letting Natsu hit on my sister," Mira says sternly.

Somehow Mira's comment results in her and Erza starting a fight. The other girls go to the other side of the room to not get caught in the fighting. Cana looks like she's debating trying to get in the middle of them to stop the two from destroying her room. Or maybe the whole building.

Getting an idea, I hop on top of the bed and pick up a pillow, throwing it with added power from my magic at Mira. She gets knocked over and glares at me, "Wanna join in, snowflake?"

"No, I'm just thinking that two grown woman shouldn't be fighting over something so silly," I say with a smirk.

"What about you? You get into petty fights with Laxus, and even us sometimes," Mira says, crossing her arms.

"I'm fourteen," I pick up another pillow, "barely a teenager. Wouldn't exactly count me as a grown woman. And if you want to fight, then at least let everyone join in!" I say, and laugh as I throw the pillow at Laki.

Everyone else gets into the fun, getting all their pillows from their rooms and make forts. Erza and Mira take everything too seriously. Somehow a simple pillow fight turns into Team Scarlet versus Team Strauss in an epic battle of... fluffiness.

While Mirajane takes Laki, Levi, and her sister to Levi's room across the hall, Erza grabs Cana, Bisca and I to take base in Cana's room.

This goes on for hours, and it's some of the most fun I've ever had.

... ... ...

"I come home to find the hallways and almost every other room in shams! What the hell have you girls been doing?" Evergreen demands, walking into the room we were currently all lounging around. Bisca, Laki, Mira, Cana and I are hanging out on the bed playing poker while the others plan a few more things for the Fairy Dance.

To answer Evergreen's question, I grab a pillow and throw it at her. Bisca smirks and Cana snickers as Ever tries to smooth out her hair, "That's what we were doing," I respond, laughing.

"You can join us if you want," Laki offers.

Evergreen smirks and looks at us over her glasses, "If we're having a girl's night, cards and boring planning won't do," she sits next to Laki and tosses the cards to Cana.

"I find that insulting," Cana says with an eyebrow raised, putting her cards back in a bag.

Levi, Erza, and Lisanna come to join us while Evergreen starts a lame game of truth or dare. I slip away while they're watching Levi try to touch the tip of her nose with her tongue, and decide to wander around Fairy Hills, cleaning up a few things while I can. Truth or dare is stupid, and really not my thing. It always turns into someone saying something really embarrassing, and another does something stupid.

Laughter sounds upstairs while I toss a ball around, occupying myself. Without anything else to distract me, Kira comes back to my mind. Yesterday I had told Gray that I was alright and he didn't worry me, but it's bugging me for some reason. I just... what could he have meant. 'There are things set in motion'? Or whatever. There's nothing I've really done to make an enemy(that isn't already in jail) who's powerful enough to do anything to me.

That shadow nightmare attack as well... How can there be magic like that without anyone I know having heard about it before. The purpose of it was to cause fear and panic, and even though I tore through the magic that panic and fear is still coursing through me.

"What are you doing down here?" Bisca says behind me, looking skeptical, "I was under the impression you were having fun."

"Oh. Uh, ya but I'm not into silly games like truth or date," I say, shrugging. I toss the ball between my hands repetitively, "A pillow fight to the death is epic, other girls forcing me to talk about silly things like boys and feelings is boring."

"Come on," Bisca says, grabbing my arm, "You're coming back upstairs to hang out with us."

The ball drops out of my hands and I don't have time to grab it before I'm whisked back to Cana's room where everyone's waiting. "Where've you been, snowflake?" Mira asks.

"Training with dragons and not playing silly games," I joke with a shrug, "There's a reason I live with a dude, you know."

"Now come on, you're not getting out of this," Levi grins, forcing me to sit down next to her. I groan a little and try to not get involved. Once it's Cana's turn I know I'm screwed.

"Kayla!" she smirks, "Truth or dare."

"No way in heck am I doing truth, so dare," I say with a sigh. Maybe they'll make me streak or something.

"That's even better," Cana says, looking like she's just won something, "I dare you to ask Gray to the Fairy Dance." Lisanna and Levi grin while most of the others smirk at me.

This time, joke's on them, "Can't do that," I say, smirking, "But good try."

"And why not?" Bisca asks.

"Because Gray already asked someone," I say, shrugging and fall back so I'm hanging off the edge of the bed.

Their surprise almost makes me laugh and they don't try to include me in the game anymore. Probably because they think they should feel bad for me because 'the boy I'm in love with is going with someone else' or something stupid like that. Even if he was, I wouldn't be hung up on it and feel sorry for myself.

Eventually everyone is fast asleep except for me, half of us on the ground. My mind is too busy thinking about everything. Kira, and well, Gray. Not telling anyone was relatively easy, considering. I smile at the memory.

... ... ...

_6 Hours Earlier_

**Gray's POV**

... ... ...

"Cana's just putting you up to this to make me feel good," Kayla says, walking away from me, "Why can't she just lay off and leave us be?! I like where things are right now."

"Kayla, stop!" I nearly shout, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her to stay in front of me, "Listen to me. Honestly, I feel weird about the idea of going to the dance with you too but it's true that I want to," I say, seeing a startled and unbelieving look in her eyes.

"There's nothing special about me except the fact I'm raised by a dragon," she mumbles, not looking me in the eye, "And even Natsu also has that. No reason you should ask me to the dance over someone else. All the other girls are much more powerful, and pretty, and they're more original compared to me."

I sigh and let her go, leaning back against the wall with my arms crossed, "You know how a lot of people see you at this guild? Probably not, since you don't like talking about yourself," I say. She shrugs and stares at something behind me, "People say you have the discipline and strength of Erza. Power and pure magical energy equal to Mirajane's. Drive and passion like Natsu's, stemming form the fact that you're both dragon slayers. And the same attractive qualities as Cana."

"That's great, I'm equal in different ways to all the amazing wizards at this guild," she says, looking annoyed and rolling her eyes. I know that all the time she says that she doesn't like to 'act like a girl' or care what people think of her but it's pretty obvious that isn't true sometimes. It's annoying how girls can be so weird about things like that. They don't say what they really think or mean most of the time when it comes to subjects they're uncomfortable with.

"I said that that's how most of our guild members view you. Do you know how I see you?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. She shrugs again, but I have her attention enough for her to actually look at me, "To me you're Kayla Ravenfrost, just as kind and caring as _you_. Pretty damn cute that's not comparable to anyone else. You're an ice mage, which can only be compared to me but you're a ice dragon slayer which is on a totally different level. Stubborn like Natsu, sure, but at least you'll listen to me. Kay, you're damn awesome and I know that."

"Ever since that day we met I knew you were not just some kid I would kind of be friends with like all of the others, you were awesome, different, and kind of a freak," I finish, smirking slightly. Kayla laughs a little, with the cute shy smile that's just unfair, "Now will you go with me to the freaking Fairy Dance before Cana beats the shit out of me?"

Kayla walks over until she's right in front of me, and I frown just slightly, "You're classy as ever, Fullbuster. And I can't have our best friend beating up either of us, now can I?" she says, smiling normally, her cheeks a little pink "Ya I'll go to the dance with you, but only as long as we don't let it get too weird. We can't let this ruin things between us."

She's so cautious, but I nod and smirk anyways, "Fine."

"Thanks, Gray," she says quietly, and her lips press against my cheek. Erza calls her over just then and Kayla walks over to the redhead, looking normal. Me on the other hand, I just know my face is red so I make my way towards the exit.

That worked. I guess.


End file.
